1 Samuel 15

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

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Saul sent against Amalek

¹Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel. So now, listen to what the LORD is saying.

²The LORD of Armies says this: I have taken note of what Amalek did to Israel, how they opposed Israel on the road as Israel came up out of Egypt. ³Now go and strike Amalek. Devote to destruction everything they have, and do not spare them. Put them to death, men and women, children and nursing infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

⁴So Saul called up the army and mustered them at Telaim: 200,000 foot soldiers, and 10,000 men from Judah. ⁵Saul advanced to the city of Amalek and lay in ambush in the ravine. ⁶Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, leave, get away from the Amalekites, or I will sweep you away along with them. For you showed faithful love to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. ⁷Then Saul struck down the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which lies east of Egypt. ⁸He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, and he devoted all the people to destruction with the sword. ⁹But Saul and the troops spared Agag. They also spared the finest sheep and cattle, the fattened animals and the lambs, and everything that was good. They were not willing to devote these to destruction. Everything that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

The LORD rejects Saul as king

¹⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: ¹¹“I regret that I made Saul king, because he has turned back from following me and has failed to carry out my commands.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the LORD all night long. ¹²Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, and Samuel was told, “Saul went to Carmel and set up a monument for himself there. Then he turned and went on down to Gilgal.” ¹³When Samuel reached Saul, Saul greeted him, “May the LORD bless you! I have carried out the command of the LORD.” ¹⁴Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep that fills my ears, and the lowing of cattle that I can hear?” ¹⁵Saul answered, “They brought them from the Amalekites. The troops kept back the best of the sheep and cattle as sacrifices for the LORD your God, and everything else we devoted to destruction.”

¹⁶“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the LORD told me during the night.” “Go on,” Saul answered.

¹⁷Samuel said, “Even if you were small in your own eyes, are you not head over the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you as Israel’s king. ¹⁸The LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go and devote to destruction those sinners, the Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹Why did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”

²⁰Saul said to Samuel, “But I did obey the voice of the LORD! I went on the mission the LORD sent me on. I brought back Agag king of Amalek, and I devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹From the plunder the troops took sheep and cattle, the choicest of what was devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” ²²Samuel said, “Is the LORD as pleased with burnt offerings and sacrifices \q as with obeying the voice of the LORD? \q See, to obey is better than sacrifice, \q and to pay heed is better than the fat of rams. ²³For rebellion is as sinful as divination, \q and arrogance is like wickedness and household gods. \q You have rejected the word of the LORD, \q so he has rejected you as king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I have broken the command of the LORD and your instructions, because I was afraid of the troops and gave in to what they said. ²⁵Now please forgive my sin, and come back with me so that I may worship the LORD.” ²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel.”

²⁷As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸Then Samuel told him, “Today the LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you and has given it to one of your neighbors, one better than you. ²⁹Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind, for he is not a mortal, that he should change his mind.” ³⁰Saul said, “I have sinned. But please honor me now in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel. Return with me, and let me worship the LORD your God.” ³¹So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

Samuel puts Agag to death

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of Amalek here to me.” Agag came to him confidently, and Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³But Samuel said, “Just as your sword has robbed women of their children, so your mother will be robbed of her child among women.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his home at Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵Samuel did not go to see Saul again until the day he died, though Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted having made Saul king over Israel.