1 Samuel 15–16

The Lord Rejects Saul as King

15Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint^f you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. ²This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites^g for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. ³Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally^h destroy^a all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”

⁴So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. ⁵Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. ⁶Then he said to the Kenites,ⁱ “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

⁷Then Saul attacked the Amalekites^j all the way from Havilah to Shur,^k near the eastern border of Egypt. ⁸He took Agag^l king of the Amalekites alive,^m and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. ⁹But Saul and the army sparedⁿ Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves^b and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

¹⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: ¹¹“I regret^o that I have made Saul king, because he has turned^p away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”^q Samuel was angry,^r and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

¹²Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel.^s There he has set up a monument^t in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

¹³When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

¹⁴But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

¹⁵Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

¹⁶“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

¹⁷Samuel said, “Although you were once small^u in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder^v and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

²⁰“But I did obey^w the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²²But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice,^x

and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination,^y

and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected^z the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned.^a I violated^b the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid^c of the men and so I gave in to them. ²⁵Now I beg you, forgive^d my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected^e the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”

²⁷As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe,^f and it tore.^{g 28}Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn^h the kingdomⁱ of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.^{j 29}He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie^k or change^l his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

³⁰Saul replied, “I have sinned.^m But please honorⁿ me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”

Agag came to him in chains.^c And he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³But Samuel said,

“As your sword has made women childless,

so will your mother be childless among women.”^o

And Samuel put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel left for Ramah,^p but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah^q of Saul. ³⁵Until the day Samuel^r died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned^s for him. And the Lord regretted^t that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Samuel Anoints David

16The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn^u for Saul, since I have rejected^v him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil^w and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse^x of Bethlehem. I have chosen^y one of his sons to be king.”

²But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show^z you what to do. You are to anoint^a for me the one I indicate.”

⁴Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem,^b the elders of the town trembled^c when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?^d”

⁵Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate^e yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab^f and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance,^g but the Lord looks at the heart.”^h

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadabⁱ and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” ⁹Jesse then had Shammah^j pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹So he asked Jesse, “Are these all^k the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”^l

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

¹²So he^m sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsomeⁿ features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed^o him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord^p came powerfully upon David.^q Samuel then went to Ramah.

David in Saul’s Service

¹⁴Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed^r from Saul, and an evil^a spirit^s from the Lord tormented him.^t

¹⁵Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre.^u He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.”

¹⁷So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse^v of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior.^w He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with^x him.”

¹⁹Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.^y” ²⁰So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread,^z a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.

²¹David came to Saul and entered his service.^a Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. ²²Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”

²³Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit^b would leave him.