Saul Defeats the Amalekites but Spares Their King

15 Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord.^{(A) 2} Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will punish the Amalekites for what they did in opposing the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.^{(B) 3} Now go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”^(C)

⁷ Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.^{(A) 8} He took King Agag of the Amalekites alive but utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.^{(B) 9} Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatted calves,^[a] and the lambs, and all that was valuable and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed.^(C)

Saul Rejected as King

¹⁰ The word of the Lord came to Samuel: ¹¹ “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commands.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all night.^{(D) 12} Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, and Samuel was told, “Saul went to Carmel, where he set up a monument for himself, and on returning he passed on down to Gilgal.”^{(E) 13} When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, “May you be blessed by the Lord; I have carried out the command of the Lord.”^{(F) 14} But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears and the lowing of cattle that I hear?” ¹⁵ Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and the cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”^{(G) 16} Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” He replied, “Speak.”

¹⁷ Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.^{(H) 18} And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’^{(I) 19} Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”^{(J) 20} Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.^{(K) 21} But from the spoil the people took sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”^{(L) 22} And Samuel said,

¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,^{(A) 20} and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” ²¹ All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”^{(B) 22} Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus^[a] was the Messiah.^[b](C)

Saul Escapes from the Jews

²³ After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,^{(D) 24} but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him,^{(E) 25} but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,^[c] lowering him in a basket.

Saul in Jerusalem

²⁶ When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.^{(F) 27} But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.^{(G) 28} So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He spoke and argued with the Hellenists, but they were attempting to kill him.^{(H) 30} When the brothers and sisters learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹ Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.^(I)

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land^[a] until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed,^[b] and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.^{(A) 46} Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.^{(B) 47} When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.”^{[c](C) 48} And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.^(D)

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁰ Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph who, though a member of the council, ⁵¹ had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.^{(E) 52} This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. ⁵⁴ It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.^{[d](F) 55} The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.^{(G) 56} Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.^(H)