1 Samuel 15

Revised Geneva Translation

15 Afterward, Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now, therefore, obey the Voice of the Words of the LORD.

² “Thus says the LORD of Hosts: ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how they laid in wait for them on the road, as they came up from Egypt.

³ ‘Now go and strike Amalek, and destroy all that they have, and have no compassion on them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

⁴ And Saul assembled the people in Telaim and counted them, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah.

⁵ And Saul came to a city of Amalek and set a watch at the river.

⁶ And Saul said to the Kenites, “Go! Depart! Get yourselves down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed mercy to all the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” And the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

⁷ So Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah (as you come 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 worth nothing, that they destroyed.

¹⁰ Then came the Word of the LORD to Samuel, saying,

¹¹ “I regret that I have made Saul king; for he has turned from Me and has not performed My Commandments.” And Samuel was moved and cried to the LORD all night.

¹² And when Samuel arose early to meet Saul in the morning, one told Samuel, saying, “Saul has gone to Carmel. And behold, he has made himself a place there, from where he returned and departed and has gone down to Gilgal.”

¹³ Then Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you of the LORD! I have fulfilled the Commandment of the LORD!”

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “What, then, does the bleating of the sheep in my ears mean, 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 to the LORD your God. And the rest we have destroyed.”

¹⁶ Again, Samuel said to Saul, “Let me tell you what the LORD has said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Say on.”

¹⁷ Then Samuel said, “When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel? For the LORD anointed you king over Israel.

¹⁸ “And the LORD sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go and destroy those sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until you destroy them!’

¹⁹ “Now, why have you not obeyed the Voice of the LORD, but have turned to the prey and have done wickedly in the sight of the LORD?”

²⁰ And Saul said to Samuel, “Yea, 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 plunder, sheep and oxen and the best of the things which should have been destroyed, to offer to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

²² And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great a pleasure in Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices as when the Voice of the LORD is obeyed? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen is better than the fat of rams.

²³ “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft; and transgression is wickedness and idolatry. Because you have cast away the Word of the LORD, therefore He has cast away you from being king.”

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. For I have transgressed the Commandment of the LORD, and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

²⁵ “Now, therefore, please take away my sin and turn back with me, so that I may worship the LORD.”

²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have cast away the Word of the LORD, and the LORD has cast away you, so that you shall not be king over Israel.”

²⁷ And as Samuel turned himself to go away, he caught the lap of his coat, and it tore.

²⁸ Then Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.

²⁹ “For indeed the Strength of Israel will neither lie nor repent. For He is not a man that He should repent.”

³⁰ Then he said, “I have sinned. But, please honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.

³¹ So, Samuel turned back and followed Saul. And Saul worshipped the LORD.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag, the king of the Amalekites, here to me.” And Agag came to him pleasantly; and Agag said, “Truly the bitterness of death has passed.”

³³ And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among other women.” And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

³⁴ So Samuel departed to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house, to Gibeah of Saul.

³⁵ And Samuel no longer came to see Saul until the day of his death. But Samuel mourned for Saul. And the LORD regretted that He made Saul king over Israel.