1 Samuel 15
New King James Version
Saul Spares King Agag
15 Samuel also said to Saul, (A)“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, (B)how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and (C)attack[a] Amalek, and (D)utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
4 So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
6 Then Saul said to (E)the Kenites, (F)“Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For (G)you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 (H)And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from (I)Havilah all the way to (J)Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 (K)He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and (L)utterly 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 fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Saul Rejected as King
10 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 (N)“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has (O)turned back from following Me, (P)and has not performed My commandments.” And it (Q)grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. 12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to (R)Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, (S)“Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; (T)for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
And he said to him, “Speak on.”
17 So Samuel said, (U)“When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are [b]consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the [c]spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 And Saul said to Samuel, (V)“But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 (W)But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
22 So Samuel said:
(X)“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, (Y)to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of [d]witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
(Z)He also has rejected you from being king.”
24 (AA)Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I (AB)feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, (AC)for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, (AD)Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, (AE)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Strength of Israel (AF)will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet (AG)honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously.
And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33 But Samuel said, (AH)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to (AI)Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at (AJ)Gibeah of Saul. 35 And (AK)Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 15:3 Lit. strike
- 1 Samuel 15:18 exterminated
- 1 Samuel 15:19 plunder
- 1 Samuel 15:23 divination
1 Samuel 15
1599 Geneva Bible
15 3 Saul is commanded to slay Amalek. 9 He spareth Agag, and the best things. 19 Samuel reproveth him. 28 Saul is rejected of the Lord, and his Kingdom given to another. 33 Samuel heweth Agag in pieces.
1 Afterward Samuel said unto Saul, (A)The Lord sent me to anoint thee King over his people, over Israel: now therefore [a]obey the voice of the words of the Lord.
2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember what Amalek did to Israel, (B)how they laid wait for them in the way, as they came up from Egypt.
3 Now therefore go, and smite Amalek, and destroy ye all that pertaineth unto them, and have no compassion on them, but [b]slay both man and woman, both infant and suckling, both ox, and sheep, both camel, and ass.
4 ¶ And Saul assembled the people, and [c]numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and [d]set watch at the river.
6 And Saul said unto the [e]Kenites, Go, depart, and get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed [f]mercy to all the children of Israel, when they came up from Egypt: and the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 So Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah, as thou comest to Shur, that is before Egypt,
8 And took Agag the King of the Amalekites alive, and destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the better sheep, and the oxen, and the fat beasts, and the lambs, and all that was good, and they would not destroy them; but everything that was vile and nought worth, that they destroyed.
10 ¶ Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,
11 It [g]repenteth me that I have made Saul King; for he is turned from me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was moved, and cried unto the Lord all night.
12 And when Samuel arose early to meet Saul in the morning, one told Samuel, saying, Saul is gone to Carmel; and behold, he hath made him there a place, from whence he returned, and departed, and is gone down to Gilgal.
13 ¶ Then Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto him. Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the [h]commandment of the Lord.
14 But Samuel said, What meaneth then the bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul answered, They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, to sacrifice them unto the Lord thy God, and the remnant have we destroyed.
16 Again Samuel said to Saul, Let me tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17 Then Samuel said, When thou wast [i]little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord anointed thee King over Israel.
18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and destroy those sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them, until thou destroy them.
19 Now wherefore hast thou not obeyed the voice of the Lord, but hast turned to the prey, and hast done wickedly in the sight of the Lord?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, [j]I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep, and oxen, and the chiefest of the things which should have been destroyed, to offer unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as when the voice of the Lord is obeyed? behold, (C)to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams.
23 For [k]rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and transgression is wickedness and idolatry. Because thou hast cast away the word of the Lord, therefore he hath cast away thee from being king.
24 Then Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the Commandment of the Lord, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore I pray thee, take away my [l]sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.
26 But Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast cast away the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath cast away thee, that thou shalt not be King over Israel.
27 And as Samuel turned himself to go away, he caught the lap of his coat, and it rent.
28 Then Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy [m]neighbor, that is better than thou.
29 For indeed the [n]strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man that he should repent.
30 Then he said, I have sinned: but honor me, I pray thee, before the Elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.
31 ¶ So Samuel turned again, and followed Saul: and Saul worshipped the Lord.
32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites: and Agag came unto him [o]pleasantly, and Agag said, Truly the [p]bitterness of death is passed.
33 And Samuel said, (D)As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among other women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 ¶ So Samuel departed to [q]Ramah, and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel came no more to [r]see Saul until the day of his death: but Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord [s]repented that he made Saul King over Israel.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 15:1 Because he hath preferred thee to this honor, thou art bound to obey him.
- 1 Samuel 15:3 That this might be an example of God’s vengeance against them that deal cruelly with his people.
- 1 Samuel 15:4 Or, knew their number by the lambs which they brought.
- 1 Samuel 15:5 Or, fought in the valley.
- 1 Samuel 15:6 Which were the posterity of Jethro Moses’ father-in-law.
- 1 Samuel 15:6 For Jethro came to visit them, and gave them good counsel, Exod. 18:19.
- 1 Samuel 15:11 God in his eternal counsel never changeth nor repenteth, as verse 29, though he seemeth to us to repent when anything goeth contrary to his temporal election.
- 1 Samuel 15:13 This is the nature of hypocrites to be impudent against the truth, to condemn others, and justify themselves.
- 1 Samuel 15:17 Meaning, of base condition, as 1 Sam. 9:21.
- 1 Samuel 15:20 He standeth most impudently in his own defense both against God and his own conscience.
- 1 Samuel 15:23 God hateth nothing more than the disobedience of his Commandment, though the intent seems never so good to man.
- 1 Samuel 15:25 This was not true repentance, but dissimulation, fearing the loss of his kingdom.
- 1 Samuel 15:28 That is, to David.
- 1 Samuel 15:29 Meaning, God, who maintaineth and prefereth his.
- 1 Samuel 15:32 Or, in bonds.
- 1 Samuel 15:32 He suspected nothing less than death, or as some write, he passed not for death.
- 1 Samuel 15:34 Where his house was.
- 1 Samuel 15:35 Though Saul came where Samuel was, 1 Sam. 19:22.
- 1 Samuel 15:35 As verse 11.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
