1S 15:1And Samuel said to Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the words of Jehovah.
1S 15:2Thus says Jehovah of hosts, I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they set themselves against them in the way as they came up out of Egypt.
1S 15:3Go now and strike the Amalekites; and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, oxen and sheep, camel and donkey.
1S 15:4And Saul summoned the people and mustered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah.
1S 15:5And Saul came to the city of the Amalekites and set an ambush in the river valley.
1S 15:6And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites; otherwise, I will destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. And the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
1S 15:7Then Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah as you go toward Shur, which is opposite Egypt.
1S 15:8And he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1S 15:9But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings, and the lambs and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but everything that was despised and worthless, this they utterly destroyed.
1S 15:10And the word of Jehovah came to Samuel, saying,
1S 15:11I repent that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not fulfilled My words. And Samuel was angry, and he cried to Jehovah all night long.
1S 15:12Then Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, saying, Saul went to Carmel and has now set up a monument for himself, and he has returned and passed on down to Gilgal.
1S 15:13And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed are you of Jehovah! I have fulfilled the word of Jehovah.
1S 15:14And Samuel said, What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears and the lowing of oxen that I hear?
1S 15:15And Saul said, They have been brought from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to Jehovah your God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1S 15:16Then Samuel said to Saul, Stop, and I will tell you what Jehovah spoke to me last night. And he said to him, Speak.
1S 15:17And Samuel said, Though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah has anointed you king over Israel.
1S 15:18And Jehovah sent you on a journey and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.
1S 15:19Why then did you not obey the voice of Jehovah, but flew upon the spoil and did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah?
1S 15:20And Saul said to Samuel, I surely did obey the voice of Jehovah, and I went on the journey that Jehovah sent me on. And I have brought Agag the king of the Amalekites and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1S 15:21But of the spoil the people took sheep and oxen, the chief of those things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gilgal.
1S 15:22And Samuel said, / Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices / As much as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? / Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, / And to heed, than the fat of rams.
1S 15:23For rebellion is like the sin of divination, / And insubordination is like idolatry and teraphim. / Because you have rejected the word of Jehovah, / He has also rejected you from being king.
1S 15:24And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
1S 15:25Now therefore pardon my sin, I beg you, and return with me so that I may worship Jehovah.
1S 15:26But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah has rejected you from being king over Israel.
1S 15:27And when Samuel turned around to go, Saul seized the corner of his cloak, and it tore.
1S 15:28And Samuel said to him, Jehovah has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and has given it to an associate of yours, who is better than you.
1S 15:29Moreover the Eminence of Israel does not lie nor repent, for He is not a man that He should repent.
1S 15:30Then Saul said, I have sinned. Honor me now, I beg you, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me so that I may worship Jehovah your God.
1S 15:31So Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul worshipped Jehovah.
1S 15:32Then Samuel said, Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites near to me. And Agag came to him cheerfully, for Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death has turned.
1S 15:33And Samuel said, Just as your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal.
1S 15:34And Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.
1S 15:35And Samuel never again saw Saul unto the day of his death, though Samuel mourned for Saul. And Jehovah repented that He had made Saul king over Israel.
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