24 Saul said to Samuel, (A)“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and (B)return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. (C)For you have rejected the word of the Lord, (D)and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 (E)As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, (F)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel (G)will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet (H)honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, (I)and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.[a] Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, (J)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord (K)in Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went (L)to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in (M)Gibeah of Saul. 35 (N)And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, (O)but Samuel grieved over Saul. (P)And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, (Q)“How long will you grieve over Saul, since (R)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? (S)Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, (T)for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, (U)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. (V)And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city (W)came to meet him trembling and said, (X)“Do you come peaceably?” And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. (Y)Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they came, he looked on (Z)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” But the Lord said to Samuel, (AA)“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, (AB)but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called (AC)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made (AD)Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, (AE)“There remains yet the youngest,[b] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, (AF)“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was (AG)ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, (AH)“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took (AI)the horn of oil (AJ)and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. (AK)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 15:32 Or haltingly (compare Septuagint); the Hebrew is uncertain
  2. 1 Samuel 16:11 Or smallest

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