1 Samuel 15:1–17:58
15 Samuel also said to Saul, a“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, bhow he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and cattack 1Amalek, and dutterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
4 So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
6 Then Saul said to ethe Kenites, f“Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For gyou showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 hAnd Saul attacked the Amalekites, from iHavilah all the way to jShur, which is east of Egypt. 8 kHe also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and lutterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people mspared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
10 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 n“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has oturned back from following Me, pand has not performed My commandments.” And it qgrieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. 12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to rCarmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, s“Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; tfor the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
And he said to him, “Speak on.”
17 So Samuel said, u“When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are 2consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the 3spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 And Saul said to Samuel, v“But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 wBut the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
x“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, yto obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of 4witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
zHe also has rejected you from being king.”
24 aThen Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I bfeared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, 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, cfor you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, dSaul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, e“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Strength of Israel fwill not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ghonor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously.
And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33 But Samuel said, h“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to iRamah, and Saul went up to his house at jGibeah of Saul. 35 And kSamuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, a“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? bFill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to cJesse the Bethlehemite. For dI have 1provided Myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, e‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”
4 So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town ftrembled at his coming, and said, g“Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. hSanctify 2yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at iEliab and jsaid, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, k“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have 3refused him. lFor 4the Lord does not see as man sees; for man mlooks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the nheart.”
8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the osheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not 5sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was pruddy, qwith 6bright eyes, and good-looking. rAnd the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and sthe Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul
14 tBut the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ua distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will vplay it with his hand when the 7distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”
17 So Saul said to his servants, 8“Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
18 Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and wthe Lord is with him.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse xtook a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. 21 So David came to Saul and ystood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.
17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at aSochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named bGoliath, from cGath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was 1armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. 8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the dservants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me