1 Samuel 15
Saul's Disobedience
and Rejection |
1 |
Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his
people, over Israel: 1 Sam. 10.1 now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the
LORD.
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2 |
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Am'alek did to Israel, how he
laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Ex.
17.8-14 · Deut. 25.17-19
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3 |
Now go and smite Am'alek, and utterly
destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man
and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and
ass.
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4 |
And Saul gathered the people together,
and numbered them in Tela'im, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten
thousand men of Judah.
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5 |
And Saul came to a city of Am'alek, and
laid wait in the valley.
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6 |
And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go,
depart, get you down from among the Amal'ekites, lest I destroy you
with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel,
when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among
the Amal'ekites.
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7 |
And Saul smote the Amal'ekites from
Hav'ilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over
against Egypt.
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8 |
And he took Agag the king of the
Amal'ekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the
edge of the sword.
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9 |
But 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 every thing that was vile and refuse, that
they destroyed utterly.
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10 |
Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
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11 |
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath
not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried
unto the LORD all night.
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12 |
And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul
in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel,
and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed
on, and gone down to Gilgal.
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13 |
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said
unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I
have performed the commandment of the LORD.
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14 |
And Samuel said, What meaneth then
this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen
which I hear?
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15 |
And Saul said, They have brought them
from the Amal'ekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep
and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy
God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
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16 |
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I
will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me
this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
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17 |
And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head
of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed
thee king over Israel?
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18 |
And the LORD sent
thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the
Amal'ekites, and fight against them until they be
consumed.
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19 |
Wherefore then didst thou not obey the
voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the
spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
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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 Am'alek, and have utterly destroyed the
Amal'ekites.
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21 |
But the people took of the spoil, sheep
and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly
destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God
in Gilgal.
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22 |
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
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23 |
For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
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24 |
And 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.
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25 |
Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my
sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
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26 |
And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not
return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected
thee from being king over Israel.
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27 |
And as Samuel turned about to go away, he
laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
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28 |
And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this
day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better
than thou.
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29 |
And also the Strength of Israel will not
lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should
repent.
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30 |
Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, 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.
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31 |
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and
Saul worshipped the LORD.
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32 |
Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me
Agag the king of the Amal'ekites. And Agag came unto him delicately.
And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
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33 |
And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made
women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And
Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in
Gilgal.
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34 |
Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul
went up to his house to Gib'e-ah of Saul.
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35 |
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until
the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the
LORD repented that he had made Saul king over
Israel.
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