1 Samuel 15
1 [One day] Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to appoint you to be the king of the Israeli people. So now listen to this message from Yahweh:
And Samuel said to Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint thee king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah.
2 Yahweh, [the commander] of the armies [of angels] has declared this: ‘I am going to punish [the descendants of] Amalek for [attacking] the Israeli people after the Israelis left Egypt.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have considered what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3 So now go [with your army] and attack the Amalek people-group. Destroy them completely—destroy them and everything that belongs to them—the men and women, their children and infants, their cattle and sheep and camels and donkeys. Do not (spare any of them/allow any of them to remain alive)!’”
Now go and smite Amalek, and destroy utterly all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4 So Saul summoned the army, and they gathered at Telaim [town]. There were 200,000 soldiers. 10,000 of them were from Judah, [and the others were from the other Israeli tribes].
And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 Then Saul went [with his army] to a town where some of the Amalek people-group lived. [His army prepared to attack them suddenly by] hiding in the valley.
And Saul came to the city of the Amalekites, and set an ambush in the valley.
6 Then Saul sent this message to the Ken people-group [who lived in that area]: “You acted kindly toward all our Israeli [ancestors] when they left Egypt. But we are going to kill all of the Amalek people-group, [because they opposed/attacked our ancestors]. So move away from where the Amalek people-group live. [If you do not move away], you will be killed when they are killed.” So [when] the Ken people-group [heard that, they immediately] left that area.
And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, and go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. And the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul’s [army] slaughtered the Amalek people-group, from Havilah [town in the east] to Shur [town in the west]. Shur was at the border [between Israel and] Egypt.
And Saul smote Amalek from Havilah as thou comest to Shur, which is opposite to Egypt.
8 Saul’s army captured Agag, the king of the Amalek people-group, but they killed everyone else.
And he took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 They not only (spared/did not kill) Agag, but they also took the best sheep and goats and cattle. They took everything that was good. They destroyed only the animals that they considered to be worthless.
And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and oxen, and beasts of the second bearing, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not devote them to destruction; but everything that was mean and weak, that they destroyed utterly.
10 Then Yahweh said to Samuel,
And the word of Jehovah came to Samuel, saying,
11 “I am sorry that I appointed Saul to be your king, because he has turned away from me and has not obeyed what I commanded him to do.” Samuel was very disturbed/upset [when he heard that], and he cried out to Yahweh all that night.
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned away from following me, and hath not fulfilled my words. And Samuel was much grieved; and he cried to Jehovah all night.
12 Early the next morning, Samuel got up and went to talk with Saul. But someone told Samuel, “Saul went to Camel [city], where he has set up a monument to honor himself. Now he has left there and gone down to Gilgal.”
And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a monument, and has turned about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13 When Samuel arrived [at Gilgal] he approached Saul, and Saul said to him, “I wish/desire that Yahweh will bless you! I have obeyed what Yahweh told me to do.”
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed art thou of Jehovah: I have fulfilled the word of Jehovah.
14 But Samuel replied, “If that is true, why is it that I hear cattle mooing and I hear sheep bleating?”
And Samuel said, What [means] then this bleating of sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?
15 Saul replied, “The soldiers took them from the Amalek people-group. They saved the best sheep and cattle, in order to offer them as sacrifices to Yahweh, your God. But we have completely destroyed all the others.”
And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, because the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16 Samuel said to Saul, “Stop [talking]! Allow me to tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Tell me [what he said].”
And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, that I may tell thee what Jehovah has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.
17 Samuel said, “Previously you did not think that you were important. But now you have become [RHQ] the leader of the tribes of Israel. Yahweh appointed you to be their king.
And Samuel said, Was it not when thou wast little in thine eyes that thou [becamest] the head of the tribes of Israel, and Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And Yahweh sent you to do something [for him]. He said to you, ‘Go and get rid of all those sinful people, the Amalek people-group. Attack them and kill all of them.’
And Jehovah sent thee on a way and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19 So why did you not obey Yahweh [RHQ]? Why did your men take the best animals [RHQ]? Why did you do what Yahweh said was evil?” [RHQ]
Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, but didst fall upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of Jehovah?
20 Saul replied to Samuel, “Hey, I did what Yahweh sent me to do! I brought back King Agag, but we killed everyone else!
And Saul said to Samuel, I have indeed hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 My men brought back only the best sheep and cattle and other things, in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God here at Gilgal.”
But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God in Gilgal.
22 But Samuel replied, “Which [do you think] pleases Yahweh more, animals that are completely burned [on the altar] and other sacrifices, or people obeying him [SYN]? It is better to obey [Yahweh] than [to offer] sacrifices [to him]. It is better to pay attention to what he says than [to burn] the fat of rams, [even though God said they should be sacrificed to him].
And Samuel said, Has Jehovah delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, As in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, Attention than the fat of rams.
23 To rebel [against God] is as sinful as doing sorcery/black magic, and being stubborn is as sinful as worshiping idols. So, because you disobeyed what Yahweh told you to do, he has declared that you will no longer be king.”
For rebellion is [as] the sin of divination, And selfwill is [as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He hath also rejected thee from being king.
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “[Yes], I have sinned. I disobeyed what you told me to do, which is what Yahweh commanded. I did that because I was (afraid of/worried about) what my men would say [if I did not do what they wanted]. So I did what they demanded.
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words; for I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice.
25 But now, please forgive me for having sinned. And come back with me [to where the people are] in order that I may worship Yahweh.”
And now, I pray thee, forgive my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah.
26 But Samuel replied, “No, I will not go back with you. You have rejected/disobeyed what Yahweh commanded you to do. So he has rejected you, [and declared that you will no longer] be the king of Israel. [So I do not want to talk any more with you].”
And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn again with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah has rejected thee from being king over Israel.
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul tried to stop him by grabbing the edge of Samuel’s robe, and it tore.
And as Samuel turned to go away, [Saul] laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28 Samuel said to him, “[You tore my robe! And] today Yahweh has torn away from you the kingdom of Israel! He will appoint someone else to be king, someone who is a better man than you are.
Then Samuel said to him, Jehovah has rent the kingdom of Israel from thee to-day, and has given it to thy neighbour, who is better than thou.
29 And since the one who is the glorious [God] of the Israeli people does not lie, he will not change (his mind/what he has said). Humans sometimes change their minds, but God does not do that, because he is not a human.”
And also the Hope of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.
30 Then Saul [pleaded again. He] said, “I know that I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the leaders of the Israeli people and in front of all the other Israeli people by coming back [to them] with me in order that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
And he said, I have sinned; honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God.
31 So Samuel finally agreed to do that, and they went together back [to where the people were], and Saul worshiped Yahweh there.
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Jehovah.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring King Agag to me.” So they brought Agag to him. Agag was confidently expecting that they would spare him/not kill him. He was thinking, “Surely I will not have to endure an agonizing death!”
And Samuel said, Bring ye near to me Agag the king of Amalek. And Agag came to him gaily. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33 But Samuel said to him, “You have killed the sons of many women with your sword, so now your mother will no longer have a son.” And Samuel cut Agag into pieces [with his sword], there at Gilgal, in the presence of Yahweh.
And Samuel said, As thy sword has made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless above women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel left there and returned to his home in Ramah, and Saul went to his home in Gibeah.
And Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 Samuel never saw Saul again, but he was very sad about [what] Saul [had done]. And Yahweh was very sorry that he had appointed Saul to be the king of Israel.
And Samuel saw Saul no more until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned over Saul; and Jehovah repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
