The FarAboveAll translation of the Old Testament from the Masoretic Hebrew and Aramaic (WLC). See details on www.FarAboveAll.com.

Version 0.33.105, 15 February 2024

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1 Samuel Chapter 15

1And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord has sent me to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel, so now, listen to the voice of the words of the Lord. 2The Lord of hosts says this: ‘I have examined what Amalek did to Israel, how he took a position on the way when Israel came up out of Egypt. 3Now go and strike Amalek down, and obliterate everything of his, and do not show mercy to him, and put to death both men and women, both child and baby, both ox and sheep, both camel and donkey.’ ” 4And Saul summoned the people and counted them in Telaim – two hundred thousand infantrymen and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and he contended with him in the ravine. 6And Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down away from the Amalekites, so that I don't destroy you with them, for you acted kindly towards all the sons of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” And the Kenites departed and went away from Amalek. 7And Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah to where you come to Shur which is opposite Egypt. 8And he captured Agag king of the Amalekites alive, but he obliterated all the people by the edge of the sword. 9But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, and the cattle, and the second best of them, and the fatted lambs, and all the goods, for they were not willing to obliterate them. But they obliterated all the despised artisanry, and it was all melted down and they obliterated it. 10Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel and said, 11“I regret making Saul king, for he has turned away from following me, and he has not fulfilled my words.” And it infuriated Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. 12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and the matter was reported to Samuel with the words, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a landmark for himself, and he went round the perimeter, and he passed across, and he went down to Gilgal.” 13Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Be blessed by the Lord. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.” 14But Samuel said, “Now what is this sound of sheep in my ears, and the sound of oxen which I hear?” 15And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, because the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen in order to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we have obliterated the remainder.” 16And Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” 17Then Samuel said, “Is it not so, that when you were unimportant in your own sight, you became the head of the tribes of Israel, and that the Lord anointed you as king over Israel? 18And the Lord sent you on an expedition and said, ‘Go and obliterate the sinners – the Amalekites – and fight them until you have finished them off.’ 19So why did you not obey the Lord, for you swooped on the spoil, and you did wrong in the sight of the Lord?” 20And Saul said to Samuel, “I maintain that I have obeyed the Lord, and I went on the way which the Lord sent me, and I led Agag king of the Amalekites captive, and I obliterated the Amalekites. 21But the people took sheep and oxen from the spoil – the firstlings of the condemned animals to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22Then Samuel said,

“The Lord's pleasure in the offering of sacrifices

Is as that of obeying the Lord's voice.

Look, to obey is better than a sacrifice,

And heeding him is better than the fat of rams.

23For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

And stubbornness is as the wickedness of amulets.

Since you have rejected the word of the Lord,

He has rejected you as king.”

24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the utterance of the Lord and your words, for I feared the people and I obeyed them. 25So now, please forgive my sin, and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord.” 26But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not turn back with you, for you rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27Then when Samuel turned to depart, he grasped the hem of his coat, and it tore. 28Then Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today, and he has given it to a compatriot of yours who is better than you. 29And moreover the perpetual one of Israel will not lie and will not relent, for he is not a man to relent.” 30Then he said, “I have sinned. Now honour me, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord your God.” 31Then Samuel turned back to Saul, and Saul worshipped the Lord. 32And Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Then Agag came to him winsomely, and Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has gone.” 33But Samuel said,

“As your sword has bereaved women,

So your mother will be bereaved among women.”

And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 34Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35And Samuel did not see Saul any more up to the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted having made Saul king over Israel.

Reference(s) in Chapter 15: v.22 ↔ Mark 12:33.

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