1 Samuel 15

Saul Defeats the Amalekites but Spares Their King

1 # 1 Sam 9.16 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. 2#Ex 17.8–14; Num 24.20; Deut 25.17–19Thus 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. 3#Num 24.20; Deut 20.16–18; 1 Sam 22.19Now 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.”

4So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand soldiers of Judah. 5Saul came to the city of the Amalekites and lay in wait in the valley. 6#Ex 18.10, 19; Num 10.29–32; Judg 1.16; 4.11Saul said to the Kenites, “Go! Leave! Withdraw from among the Amalekites, or I will destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites. 7#Gen 16.7; 25.17, 18; Ex 15.22; 1 Sam 14.48Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8#1 Sam 30.1; 1 Kings 20.34ffHe took King Agag of the Amalekites alive but utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9#vv 3, 15Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatted calves,#15.9 Cn: Heb the second ones and the lambs, and all that was valuable and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed.

Saul Rejected as King

10The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11#Gen 6.6, 7; 1 Sam 16.1; 2 Sam 24.16; 1 Kings 9.6, 7“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. 12#Josh 15.55Samuel 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.” 13#Gen 14.19; Judg 17.2When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, “May you be blessed by the Lord; I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears and the lowing of cattle that I hear?” 15#vv 9, 21; Gen 3.12Saul 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.” 16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” He replied, “Speak.”

17 # 1 Sam 9.21 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. 18#v 3And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19#1 Sam 14.32Why 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?” 20#v 13Saul 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. 21#v 15But 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.” 22#Isa 1.11–13; Hos 6.6; Mic 6.6–8; Mk 12.22; Heb 10.6–9And Samuel said,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as in obedience to the voice of the Lord?

Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice

and to heed than the fat of rams.

23 # 1 Sam 13.14 For rebellion is no less a sin than divination,

and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has also rejected you from being king.”

24 # 2 Sam 12.13; Prov 29.25; Isa 51.12, 13 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. 25Now therefore, I pray, pardon my sin, and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” 26#1 Sam 13.14Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27#1 Kings 11.30, 31As Samuel turned to go away, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28#1 Sam 28.17And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this very day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 29#Num 23.19; 1 Chr 29.11; Ezek 24.14Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not deceive or change his mind, for he is not a mortal, that he should change his mind.” 30#Isa 29.13; Jn 12.43Then Saul#15.30 Heb he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

32Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” And Agag came to him haltingly.#15.32 Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain Agag said, “Surely death is bitter.”#15.32 Gk Syr OL: Heb Surely the bitterness of death is past 33#Gen 9.6; Judg 1.7Samuel said,

“As your sword has made women childless,

so your mother shall be childless among women.”

And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

34 # 1 Sam 7.17; 11.4 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35#1 Sam 16.1; 19.24Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

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1 Samuel 15: NRSVUE

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