1 Samuel 15:1-23

New American Standard Bible

Saul’s Disobedience

15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “^(A)The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the ^[a]words of the Lord. ² This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘I will ^[b]punish Amalek ^(B)for what he did to Israel, in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. ³ Now go and strike Amalek and ^(C)completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but ^(D)put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

⁴ Then Saul summoned the people and ^[c]counted them in ^(E)Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ And Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ^[d]wadi. ⁶ But Saul said to ^(F)the Kenites, “Go, get away, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you along with them; for ^(G)you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they went up from Egypt.” So the Kenites got away from among the Amalekites. ⁷ Then ^(H)Saul ^[e]defeated the Amalekites, from ^(I)Havilah ^[f]going toward ^(J)Shur, which is ^[g]east of Egypt. ⁸ He captured ^(K)Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ^(L)completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people ^(M)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the more valuable animals, the lambs, and everything that was good, and were unwilling to destroy them completely; but everything despicable and weak, that they completely destroyed.

Samuel Rebukes Saul

¹⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹ “^(N)I regret that I have made Saul king, because ^(O)he has turned back from ^[h]following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was furious and ^(P)cried out to the Lord all night. ¹² Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was reported to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to ^(Q)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on ^[i]down to ^(R)Gilgal.” ¹³ So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “^(S)Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” ¹⁴ But Samuel said, “^(T)What then is this ^[j]bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the ^[k]bellowing of the oxen which I hear?” ¹⁵ Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ^(U)the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have completely destroyed.” ¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and let me inform you of what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

¹⁷ So Samuel said, “^[l]Is it not true, ^(V)though you were ^[m]insignificant in your own eyes, that you became the head of the tribes of Israel? For the Lord anointed you as king over Israel. ¹⁸ And the Lord sent you on a ^[n]mission, and said, ‘^(W)Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated.’ ¹⁹ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^(X)Instead, you loudly rushed upon the spoils and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord!”

²⁰ Then Saul said to Samuel, “^(Y)I did obey the voice of the Lord, for I went on the ^[o]mission on which the Lord sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹ But ^(Z)the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things designated for destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” ²² Samuel said,