1 Samuel 15 - New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995)

Saul’s Disobedience

15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “^(A)The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the ^[a]words of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will ^[b]punish Amalek ^(B)for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. ³ Now go and strike Amalek and ^(C)utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but ^(D)put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

⁴ Then Saul summoned the people and ^[c]numbered them in ^(E)Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. ⁵ Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. ⁶ Saul said to ^(F)the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for ^(G)you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ⁷ So ^(H)Saul ^[d]defeated the Amalekites, from ^(I)Havilah as you go to ^(J)Shur, which is ^[e]east of Egypt. ⁸ He captured ^(K)Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ^(L)utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people ^(M)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Samuel Rebukes Saul

¹⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹ “^(N)I regret that I have made Saul king, for ^(O)he has turned back from ^[f]following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and ^(P)cried out to the Lord all night. ¹² Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to ^(Q)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on ^[g]down to ^(R)Gilgal.” ¹³ Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “^(S)Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” ¹⁴ But Samuel said, “^(T)What then is this ^[h]bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the ^[i]lowing of the oxen which I hear?” ¹⁵ Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ^(U)the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.” ¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

¹⁷ Samuel said, “Is it not true, ^(V)though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, ¹⁸ and the Lord sent you on a ^[j]mission, and said, ‘^(W)Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ ¹⁹ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, ^(X)but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”

²⁰ Then Saul said to Samuel, “^(Y)I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the ^[k]mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹ But ^(Z)the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” ²² Samuel said,

“^(AA)Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, ^(AB)to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
²³ “For rebellion is as the sin of ^(AC)divination,
And insubordination is as ^(AD)iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
^(AE)He has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “^(AF)I have sinned; ^(AG)I have indeed transgressed the ^[l]command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, ^(AH)please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” ²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for ^(AI)you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ²⁷ As Samuel turned to go, ^(AJ)Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, “^(AK)The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. ²⁹ Also the ^[m](AL)Glory of Israel ^(AM)will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” ³⁰ Then he said, “I have sinned; ^(AN)but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, ^(AO)that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him ^[n]cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” ³³ But Samuel said, “^(AP)As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to ^(AQ)Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at ^(AR)Gibeah of Saul. ^{35 (AS)}Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel ^(AT)grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Footnotes

1. 1 Samuel 15:1 Lit sound of the words
2. 1 Samuel 15:2 Or visit
3. 1 Samuel 15:4 Lit mustered
4. 1 Samuel 15:7 Lit smote
5. 1 Samuel 15:7 Lit before
6. 1 Samuel 15:11 Lit after
7. 1 Samuel 15:12 Lit and went down
8. 1 Samuel 15:14 Lit sound
9. 1 Samuel 15:14 Lit sound
10. 1 Samuel 15:18 Lit way
11. 1 Samuel 15:20 Lit way
12. 1 Samuel 15:24 Lit mouth
13. 1 Samuel 15:29 Or Eminence
14. 1 Samuel 15:32 Or in bonds

Cross references

1. 1 Samuel 15:1 : 1 Sam 9:16; 10:1
2. 1 Samuel 15:2 : Ex 17:8-16; Num 24:20; Deut 25:17-19
3. 1 Samuel 15:3 : Num 24:20; Deut 20:16-18; Josh 6:17-21
4. 1 Samuel 15:3 : 1 Sam 22:19
5. 1 Samuel 15:4 : Josh 15:24
6. 1 Samuel 15:6 : Num 24:21; Judg 1:16; 4:11
7. 1 Samuel 15:6 : Ex 18:9, 10; Num 10:29-32
8. 1 Samuel 15:7 : 1 Sam 14:48
9. 1 Samuel 15:7 : Gen 25:18
10. 1 Samuel 15:7 : Gen 16:7; Ex 15:22; 1 Sam 27:8
11. 1 Samuel 15:8 : Num 24:7; 1 Sam 15:20; Esth 3:1
12. 1 Samuel 15:8 : 1 Sam 27:8, 9; 30:1; 2 Sam 8:12
13. 1 Samuel 15:9 : 1 Sam 15:3, 15, 19
14. 1 Samuel 15:11 : Gen 6:6, 7; Ex 32:14; 1 Sam 15:35; 2 Sam 24:16
15. 1 Samuel 15:11 : Josh 22:16; 1 Sam 13:13; 1 Kin 9:6, 7
16. 1 Samuel 15:11 : Ex 32:11-13; Luke 6:12
17. 1 Samuel 15:12 : Josh 15:55; 1 Sam 25:2
18. 1 Samuel 15:12 : 1 Sam 13:12, 15
19. 1 Samuel 15:13 : Gen 14:19; Judg 17:2; Ruth 3:10; 2 Sam 2:5
20. 1 Samuel 15:14 : Ex 32:21-24
21. 1 Samuel 15:15 : Gen 3:12, 13; Ex 32:22, 23; 1 Sam 15:9, 21
22. 1 Samuel 15:17 : 1 Sam 9:21; 10:22
23. 1 Samuel 15:18 : 1 Sam 15:3
24. 1 Samuel 15:19 : 1 Sam 14:32
25. 1 Samuel 15:20 : 1 Sam 15:13
26. 1 Samuel 15:21 : Ex 32:22, 23; 1 Sam 15:15
27. 1 Samuel 15:22 : Ps 40:6-8; 51:16, 17; Is 1:11-15; Mic 6:6-8; Heb 10:6-9
28. 1 Samuel 15:22 : Jer 7:22, 23; Hos 6:6; Matt 12:7; Mark 12:33
29. 1 Samuel 15:23 : Deut 18:10
30. 1 Samuel 15:23 : Gen 31:19, 34
31. 1 Samuel 15:23 : 1 Sam 13:14
32. 1 Samuel 15:24 : Num 22:34; 2 Sam 12:13; Ps 51:4
33. 1 Samuel 15:24 : Prov 29:25; Is 51:12, 13
34. 1 Samuel 15:25 : Ex 10:17
35. 1 Samuel 15:26 : 1 Sam 13:14; 16:1
36. 1 Samuel 15:27 : 1 Kin 11:30, 31
37. 1 Samuel 15:28 : 1 Sam 28:17, 18; 1 Kin 11:31
38. 1 Samuel 15:29 : 1 Chr 29:11
39. 1 Samuel 15:29 : Num 23:19; Ezek 24:14; Titus 1:2
40. 1 Samuel 15:30 : John 5:44; 12:43
41. 1 Samuel 15:30 : Is 29:13
42. 1 Samuel 15:33 : Gen 9:6; Judg 1:7; Matt 7:2
43. 1 Samuel 15:34 : 1 Sam 7:17
44. 1 Samuel 15:34 : 1 Sam 11:4
45. 1 Samuel 15:35 : 1 Sam 19:24
46. 1 Samuel 15:35 : 1 Sam 16:1