1 Samuel 15–16

Chapter 15

Saul’s Disobedience

¹Then Samuel said to Saul, “^aThe Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the ¹words of the Lord.

²“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will ¹punish Amalek ^afor 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 ^autterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but ^bput to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

⁴Then Saul summoned the people and ¹numbered them in ^aTelaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.

⁵Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

⁶Saul said to ^athe Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for ^byou showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

⁷So ^aSaul ¹defeated the Amalekites, from ^bHavilah as you go to ^cShur, which is ²east of Egypt.

⁸He captured ^aAgag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ^butterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

⁹But Saul and the people ^aspared 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

¹⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,

¹¹“^aI regret that I have made Saul king, for ^bhe has turned back from ¹following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and ^ccried out to the Lord all night.

¹²Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to ^aCarmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on ¹down to ^bGilgal.”

¹³Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “^aBlessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.”

¹⁴But Samuel said, “^aWhat then is this ¹bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

¹⁵Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ^athe people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

¹⁷Samuel said, “Is it not true, ^athough 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,

¹⁸and the Lord sent you on a ¹mission, and said, ‘^aGo 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, ^abut rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”

²⁰Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the ¹mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

²¹“But ^athe 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.”

²²Samuel said,

“^aHas the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, ^bto obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

²³“For rebellion is as the sin of ^adivination,

And insubordination is as ^biniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

^cHe has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI have sinned; ^bI have indeed transgressed the ¹command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

²⁵“Now therefore, ^aplease pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for ^ayou have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

²⁷As Samuel turned to go, ^aSaul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.

²⁸So Samuel said to him, “^aThe 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 ^1aGlory of Israel ^bwill not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

³⁰Then he said, “I have sinned; ^abut please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, ^bthat I may worship the Lord your God.”

³¹So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him ¹cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³But Samuel said, “^aAs 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.

³⁴Then Samuel went to ^aRamah, but Saul went up to his house at ^bGibeah of Saul.

^35aSamuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel ^bgrieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Chapter 16

Samuel Goes to Bethlehem

¹Now the Lord said to Samuel, “^aHow long will you grieve over Saul, since ^bI have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^cFill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to ^dJesse the Bethlehemite, for I have ^eselected a king for Myself among his sons.”

²But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “^aTake a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

³“You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and ^aI will show you what you shall do; and ^byou shall anoint for Me the one whom I ¹designate to you.”

⁴So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to ^aBethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “^bDo you come in peace?”

⁵He said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^aConsecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they entered, he looked at ^aEliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for ¹God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, ^abut the Lord looks at the heart.”

⁸Then Jesse called ^aAbinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”

⁹Next Jesse made ^1aShammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”

¹⁰Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”

¹¹And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “^aThere remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and ¹bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

David Anointed

¹²So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with ^abeautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “^bArise, anoint him; for this is he.”

¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil and ^aanointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^bthe Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

^14aNow the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ^ban evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.

¹⁵Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you.

¹⁶“Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that ^ahe shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.”

¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸Then one of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, ^aa mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and ^bthe Lord is with him.”

¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.”

²⁰Jesse ^atook a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son.

²¹Then David came to Saul and ^1aattended him; and ²Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.

²²Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”

²³So it came about whenever ^athe evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.