1 Samuel Chapter 15

1 Samuel Chapter 15
1 Afterward Samuel said unto Saul, The
Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his
people over Israel: now therefore obey
the voice of the words of the Lord. 2
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember
what Amalek did to Israel, 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 slay both man
and woman, both infant and suckling,
both ox, and sheep, both camel, and ass.
4 And Saul assembled the people, and
numbered them in Telaim, two hundred
thousand footmen, and ten thousand men
of Judah.
5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek,
and set watch at the river. 6 And Saul
said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, and
get you down from among the
Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them:
for ye 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 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 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 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
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, 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, to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to hearken is better
than the fat of rams. 23 For 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 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
neighbor, that is better than thou. 29 For
indeed the 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 worshiped the
Lord. 32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye
hither to me Agag the king of the
Amalekites: and Agag came unto him
pleasantly, and Agag said, Truly the
bitterness of death is passed.
33 And Samuel said, 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 Ramah, and
Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of
Saul.
35 And Samuel came no more to see
Saul until the day of his death: but
Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord
repented that he made Saul king over
Israel.