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1 Samuel 15:1-35 — The Lord Rejects Saul

1Sam.15.1-35

¹Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. ²Thus says the LORD of Hosts: 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up from Egypt. ³Now go and strike Amalek, and devote to destruction all that belongs to him. Do not spare him, but put to death man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" ⁴So Saul summoned the people and numbered them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. ⁶And Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I sweep you away with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among Amalek. ⁷Then Saul struck Amalek from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸He captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, and devoted all the people to destruction with the edge of the sword. ⁹But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, the cattle, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to devote them to destruction; but everything that was despised and worthless, they devoted to destruction. ¹⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not carried out my words.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the LORD all night. ¹²Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and it was told to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned around, passed on, and went down to Gilgal.” ¹³Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the word of the LORD.” ¹⁴But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of cattle that I hear?” ¹⁵Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and the cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have devoted to destruction.” ¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷Samuel said, "Though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you as king over Israel. ¹⁸And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, 'Go and devote to destruction the sinners, Amalek, and fight against them until they are consumed.' ¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what is evil in the sight of the LORD?" ²⁰Saul said to Samuel, "But I did obey the voice of the LORD, and I went on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted Amalek to destruction. ²¹But the people took from the spoil sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal." ²²Samuel said, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. ²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king." ²⁴Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the LORD." ²⁶Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ²⁷As Samuel turned around to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. ²⁹Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not lie nor change his mind, for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." ³⁰Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.” ³¹So Samuel went back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD. ³²Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of Amalek here to me.” And Agag came to him cheerfully . Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has passed.” ³³Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. ³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵Samuel never again saw Saul until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

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4/11/2026

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