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:
Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king of his people Israel. So now pay attention to what the Lord has to say.
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.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: I observed what the Amalekites did to Israel when they ambushed them on their way 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)!’”
Go and attack the Amalekites and exterminate all of them. Don't spare anyone, but kill every man, woman, child, and baby; every ox, sheep, camel, and donkey.”
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].
Saul called up his army at Telem. There were 200,000 Israelite infantry and 10,000 men from 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.
Saul advanced on the town of Amalek and set up 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.
Saul sent a message to warn the Kenites, “Move out of the area and leave the Amalekites so that I don't destroy you with them, because you showed kindness to all the people of Israel on their way from Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away and left 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.
Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, to the east of Egypt.
8 Saul’s army captured Agag, the king of the Amalek people-group, but they killed everyone else.
He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive, but exterminated all the people by 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.
Saul and his army spared Agag, together with the best sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and everything else that was any good. They didn't want to destroy those, but they completely destroyed all that was unwanted and worthless.
10 Then Yahweh said to Samuel,
The Lord sent a message 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.
“I'm sorry I made Saul king, for he has given up following me and hasn't done as I ordered.” Samuel was upset, and he cried out to the Lord all through the 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.”
Samuel got up early in the morning and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul's gone to Carmel. There he's even erected a monument to honor himself, and now he's left 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.”
When Samuel caught up with him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord ordered.”
14 But Samuel replied, “If that is true, why is it that I hear cattle mooing and I hear sheep bleating?”
“So what's this bleating of sheep my ears are picking up? What's this lowing of cattle that I'm hearing?” Samuel asked.
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.”
“The army brought them from the Amalekites,” Saul replied. “They spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we completely destroyed the rest.”
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].”
“Oh, be quiet!” Samuel told Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord told me last night.” “Tell me what he said,” Saul replied.
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.
“Once you didn't use to think much of yourself, but haven't you become the leader of the tribes of Israel?” Samuel asked. “The Lord anointed you king of 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.’
Then he sent you out to do something, telling you, ‘Go and exterminate those sinners, the Amalekites. Attack them until they're all destroyed.’
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 didn't you do what the Lord ordered? Why did you swoop down on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord's sight?”
20 Saul replied to Samuel, “Hey, I did what Yahweh sent me to do! I brought back King Agag, but we killed everyone else!
“But I did do what the Lord ordered!” Saul replied. “I went and did what the Lord sent me to do. I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and completely 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.”
The army took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was consecrated to God, to sacrifice them to the Lord your 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].
“Does the Lord prefer burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obedience to what he says?” Samuel asked. “Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice. Paying attention is more important than offering 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.”
Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as bad as the sin of idolatry. Because you have rejected the Lord's commands, he has rejected you as 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.
“I have sinned,” Saul confessed to Samuel. “I disobeyed the Lord's orders and your instructions, because I was afraid of the people and followed what they said.
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.”
So please forgive my sin and come back with me, so I can worship the Lord.”
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].”
But Samuel told him, “I'm not going back with you. You have rejected the Lord's orders, and the Lord has rejected you as king of Israel!”
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul tried to stop him by grabbing the edge of Samuel’s robe, and it tore.
As Samuel turned away to leave, Saul grabbed hold of the hem of his robe, and it ripped.
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.
Samuel said to him, “The Lord has ripped the kingdom of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor—someone who is better than you!
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.”
In addition, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind!”
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.”
“Yes, I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel—come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your 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 went back with Saul after all, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
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!”
Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him confidently, for he thought, “The threat of death of being killed must have passed.”
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.
But Samuel said, “In the same way that your sword has made women childless, so too your mother will be childless among women.” Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel left there and returned to his home in Ramah, and Saul went to his home in Gibeah.
Samuel left for Ramah, and Saul went home 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.
Until the day of his death, Samuel never visited Saul again. Samuel mourned over Saul, and the Lord regretted he had made Saul the king of Israel.
