1 Samuel 15:10-31

New International Reader's Version

¹⁰ Then the Lord gave Samuel a message. He said, ¹¹ “I am very sad I have made Saul king. He has turned away from me. He has not done what I directed him to do.” When Samuel heard that, he was angry. He cried out to the Lord during that whole night.

¹² Early the next morning Samuel got up. He went to see Saul. But Samuel was told, “Saul went to Carmel. There he set up a monument in his own honor. Now he has gone on down to Gilgal.”

¹³ When Samuel got there, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you. I’ve done what he directed me to do.”

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “Then why do I hear the baaing of sheep? Why do I hear the mooing of cattle?”

¹⁵ Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They did it to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. But we totally destroyed everything else.”

¹⁶ “That’s enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

¹⁷ Samuel said, “There was a time when you didn’t think you were important. But you became the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you to be king over Israel. ¹⁸ He sent you to do something for him. He said, ‘Go and completely destroy the Amalekites. Go and destroy those evil people. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹ Why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you keep for yourselves what you had taken from your enemies? Why did you do what is evil in the sight of the Lord?”

²⁰ “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went to do what he sent me to do. I completely destroyed the Amalekites. I brought back Agag, their king. ²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from what had been taken from our enemies. They took the best of what had been set apart to God. They wanted to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²² But Samuel replied,

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I’ve broken the Lord’s command. I haven’t done what you directed me to do. I was afraid of the men. So I did what they said I should do. ²⁵ Now I beg you, forgive my sin. Come back into town with me so I can worship the Lord.”

²⁶ But Samuel said to him, “I won’t go back with you. You have refused to do what the Lord told you to do. So he has refused to have you as king over Israel!”

²⁷ Samuel turned to leave. But Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today. He has given it to one of your neighbors. He has given it to someone better than you. ²⁹ The God who is the Glory of Israel does not lie. He doesn’t change his mind. That’s because he isn’t a mere human being. If he were, he might change his mind.”

³⁰ Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel. Come back with me so I can worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel went back with Saul. And Saul worshiped the Lord.