1 Samuel 15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 15[a]
Disobedience of Saul. 1 Samuel said to Saul: “It was I the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel. Now, therefore, listen to the message of the Lord.(A) 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will punish what Amalek did to the Israelites when he barred their way as they came up from Egypt.(B) 3 Go, now, attack Amalek, and put under the ban[b] everything he has. Do not spare him; kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”(C)
4 Saul alerted the army, and at Telaim reviewed two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.[c] 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the wadi. 6 (D)He warned the Kenites: “Leave Amalek, turn aside and come down so I will not have to destroy you with them, for you were loyal to the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.”[d] After the Kenites left, 7 Saul routed Amalek from Havilah to the approaches of Shur, on the frontier of Egypt.(E) 8 He took Agag, king of Amalek, alive, but the rest of the people he destroyed by the sword, putting them under the ban. 9 He and his troops spared Agag and the best of the fat sheep and oxen, and the lambs. They refused to put under the ban anything that was worthwhile, destroying only what was worthless and of no account.
Samuel Rebukes Saul. 10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 I regret having made Saul king, for he has turned from me and has not kept my command. At this Samuel grew angry and cried out to the Lord all night.(F) 12 Early in the morning he went to meet Saul, but was informed that Saul had gone to Carmel, where he set up a monument in his own honor, and that on his return he had gone down to Gilgal. 13 When Samuel came to him, Saul greeted him: “The Lord bless you! I have kept the command of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel asked, “What, then, is this bleating of sheep that comes to my ears, the lowing of oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul replied: “They were brought from Amalek. The people spared the best sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord, your God; but the rest we destroyed, putting them under the ban.” 16 Samuel said to Saul: “Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” “Speak!” he replied. 17 Samuel then said: “Though little in your own eyes, are you not chief of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king of Israel(G) 18 and sent you on a mission, saying: Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.(H) 19 Why then have you disobeyed the Lord? You have pounced on the spoil, thus doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight.”(I) 20 Saul explained to Samuel: “I did indeed obey the Lord and fulfill the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought back Agag, the king of Amalek, and, carrying out the ban, I have destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But from the spoil the army took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”(J) 22 (K)But Samuel said:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obedience to the Lord’s command?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
to listen, better than the fat of rams.[e]
23 For a sin of divination is rebellion,
and arrogance, the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
the Lord in turn has rejected you as king.”(L)
Rejection of Saul. 24 Saul admitted to Samuel: “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the command of the Lord and your instructions. I feared the people and obeyed them.(M) 25 Now forgive my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, because you rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected you as king of Israel.”(N) 27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized a loose end of his garment, and it tore off.(O) 28 So Samuel said to him: “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.(P) 29 The Glory of Israel neither deceives nor repents,[f] for he is not a mortal who repents.”(Q) 30 But Saul answered: “I have sinned, yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Return with me that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 And so Samuel returned with him, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
Samuel Executes Agag. 32 Afterward Samuel commanded, “Bring Agag, king of Amalek, to me.” Agag came to him struggling and saying, “So it is bitter death!” 33 And Samuel said,
“As your sword has made women childless,
so shall your mother be childless among women.”
Then he cut Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.(R) 34 Samuel departed for Ramah, while Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Never again, as long as he lived, did Samuel see Saul. Yet he grieved over Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king of Israel.(S)
Footnotes
- 15:1–35 The rejection of Saul sets the stage for the remainder of 1 Samuel. The audience knows that, in the ensuing struggle between David and Saul, David will triumph as king.
- 15:3 Put under the ban: this terminology mandates that all traces of the Amalekites (people, cities, animals, etc.) be exterminated. No plunder could be seized for personal use. In the light of Dt 20:16–18, this injunction would eliminate any tendency toward syncretism. The focus of this chapter is that Saul fails to execute this order.
- 15:4 The numbers here are not realistic; compare 14:2.
- 15:6 The Kenites honored the terms of an alliance with Israel.
- 15:22 Samuel’s reprimand echoes that of the prophets. Cultic practice is meaningless, even hypocritical, unless accompanied by an attentiveness to God’s will.
- 15:29 Nor repents: the apparent contradiction between this verse and vv. 11, 35 leads some scholars to consider it a gloss (cf. Nm 23:19). However, this phrase can be understood to underscore the definitive character of Samuel’s declaration that Saul has lost the kingship.
撒母耳记上 15
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
神命扫罗灭绝亚玛力人
15 撒母耳对扫罗说：“耶和华差遣我膏立你作他子民以色列的王，所以现在你要听耶和华的话。 2 万军之耶和华这样说：‘以色列人从埃及上来的时候，亚玛力人对他们所行的，在路上攻击他们的事，我必要惩罚。 3 现在你要去攻打亚玛力人，彻底毁灭他们所有的一切，不可怜惜他们。无论男女、孩童，或吃奶的婴儿，牛羊、骆驼、驴子，都要杀死。’”
扫罗违命
4 于是扫罗招聚众人，在提拉因数点他们，共有步兵二十万，另有犹大人一万。 5 扫罗到了亚玛力人的城市，就在山谷中设下伏兵。 6 扫罗又对基尼人说：“你们走吧！离开亚玛力人下去吧！免得我把你们与他们一同消灭。因为以色列众人从埃及上来的时候，你们曾经以慈爱待他们。”于是基尼人离开亚玛力人去了。 7 扫罗击杀亚玛力人，从哈腓拉直到埃及东的书珥， 8 生擒了亚玛力人的王亚甲，用刀杀灭了所有人民。 9 但扫罗和众人怜惜亚甲，也爱惜上好的牛羊、肥牛犊、羊羔和一切美好的东西。他们不愿彻底毁灭这些；凡是卑贱的、没有价值的，他们就彻底毁灭。
扫罗受责
10 耶和华的话临到撒母耳说： 11 “我后悔立了扫罗为王，因为他已经离去不跟随我，也不执行我的命令了。”撒母耳非常忿怒，整夜哀求耶和华。 12 撒母耳清早起来，要在早晨去见扫罗；有人告诉撒母耳：“扫罗到了迦密，在那里为自己立了一座纪念碑，然后转身下到吉甲去了。” 13 撒母耳到了扫罗那里，扫罗对他说：“愿耶和华赐福给你！我已经执行了耶和华的命令。” 14 撒母耳说：“我耳中听见有羊叫牛鸣的声音，到底是甚么呢？” 15 扫罗回答：“这是众民从亚玛力人那里带来的，因为他们爱惜这些上好的牛羊，要献给耶和华你的 神为祭；其余的，我们都已经彻底毁灭了。” 16 撒母耳对扫罗说：“住口吧！让我把耶和华昨天晚上对我所说的话告诉你。”扫罗对他说：“请说。”
17 撒母耳说：“从前你虽然自以为微小，不是作了以色列众支派的首领吗？耶和华膏立了你作以色列的王， 18 差遣你去，说：‘你去彻底毁灭那些犯罪的亚玛力人，攻打他们，直到把他们全部毁灭。’ 19 你为甚么没有听从耶和华的话，急于夺取战利品，作了耶和华看为恶的事呢？”
20 扫罗回答撒母耳：“我实在听从了耶和华的话，行了耶和华差遣我行的路；我把亚玛力人的王亚甲带了回来，又把亚玛力人都彻底毁灭了。 21 可是众民却从那些战利品中，取了应当毁灭之物中上好的牛羊，要在吉甲献给耶和华你的 神为祭。” 22 撒母耳说：
“耶和华喜悦燔祭和平安祭，
岂像喜悦人听从耶和华的话呢？
听从胜过献祭，
听命胜过公羊的脂油。
23 因为悖逆与行邪术的罪相同，
顽梗与拜虚无偶像一样，
因为你弃绝了耶和华的话，
耶和华也弃绝了你作王。”
扫罗认罪
24 于是扫罗对撒母耳说：“我犯了罪了，我违背了耶和华的命令和你的话，因为我害怕众人，听从了他们的话。 25 现在求你赦免我的罪，与我一同回去，我好敬拜耶和华。” 26 撒母耳回答扫罗：“我不与你一同回去，因为你弃绝了耶和华的话，耶和华也弃绝你作以色列的王。” 27 撒母耳转身要走，扫罗拉着他外袍的衣边，衣边就撕裂了。 28 撒母耳就对他说：“今天耶和华把以色列国从你身上撕裂，赐给比你更好的人。 29 以色列的大能者必不说谎，也不后悔。因为他不是世人，他决不后悔。” 30 扫罗说：“我犯了罪了，但是求你在我人民的长老面前和以色列人面前给我面子，与我一同回去，我好敬拜耶和华你的 神。” 31 于是撒母耳跟着扫罗回去，扫罗就敬拜耶和华。
撒母耳杀掉亚玛力王
32 随后撒母耳说：“把亚玛力人的王亚甲带到我这里来！”亚甲欢欢喜喜走到他面前，心里说：“死亡的痛苦必定过去了！” 33 撒母耳说：“你的刀怎样使妇人丧子，你的母亲在妇人中也要怎样丧子。”于是撒母耳在吉甲，在耶和华面前把亚甲斩成碎块。
34 后来撒母耳回拉玛去，扫罗也上他所住的基比亚自己的家去了。 35 撒母耳直到死的日子，再没有看见扫罗。撒母耳为扫罗悲伤，因为耶和华后悔立了扫罗作以色列的王。
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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