Against the Lord’s Request, Saul Keeps the King & the Best of Things |
1 Samuel 15:1-35 The Book of 1 Samuel [in Smaller Chunks] |
Samuel also said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over Israel. Therefore, [listen] now to the Words of the Lord. |
The Lord of Hosts, says [this,] I remember [what] Amalek did to Israel & how he laid in wait [to ambush Israel] in the [road] when he came up from Egypt. Now, go & [attack] Amalek & [totally] destroy all they have & don’t spare them. |
[Kill] both man, woman, infant & [nursing babies,] ox, sheep, camels & [donkeys.] Saul gathered the people [of Israel] together in Telaim & [counted] 200,000 footmen & 10,000 men of Judah. Saul came to a city of Amelek & laid in wait in the valley. |
Saul [told] the Kenites, Go, [& leave] the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for you [showed] kindness to all the children [people] of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So, the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. |
Saul [attacked] the Amalekites [all the way] from Havilah [to] Shur, [next to] Egypt. [Saul] took alive Agag, the [Amalekite’s] king & [totally] destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. |
But Saul & the people spared Agag & the best of the sheep, oxen, [fat calves,] lambs & all that was good & wouldn’t [totally] destroy them. But they [totally] destroyed everything that was [disgusting] & [worthless.] Then came the Word of the Lord to Samuel, I [regret] that I have [made] Saul king. |
For [Saul] has [stopped] following Me & has not performed My commandments. It grieved Samuel & he cried [out] to the Lord all night. When Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, Samuel [heard that] Saul came to Carmel & [look,] he set up a place [for himself] & [went] on, down to Gilgal. |
[When] Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, Blessed [are] you of the Lord. I have [done the Lord’s command.] Samuel said, What [does] this bleating of sheep & lowing of oxen [that] I hear in my ears mean? |
Saul said, They have brought them from the Amakelites: for the people spared the best of the sheep & oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God & the rest we have [totally] destroyed. |
Then, Samuel said to Saul, Stay & I will tell you what the Lord [has] said to me this night. [Saul] said to him, [Continue] on. Samuel said, Weren’t you made the head of the tribes of Israel & the Lord anointed you king over Israel when you [were still young?] |
The Lord sent you on a journey & said, Go & [totally] destroy the sinners, the Amakelites & fight against them until they [are destroyed.] [Why] didn’t you obey the voice of the Lord, but [flew on the plunder] & did evil in the sight of the Lord? |
Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord & have gone the way [that] the Lord sent me & have brought [back] Agag, the [Amakelite’s] king & [totally] destroyed the Amakelites. |
But the people took the [plunder,] sheep, oxen & [best of the] things [that] should have been [totally] destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. Samuel said, [Does] the Lord [have] as great [a] delight in burnt offerings & sacrifices, as [He does] in obeying the voice of the Lord? |
[Obeying] is better than sacrifice & [to listen is better] than the fat of rams. For rebellion is [like] like the sin of witchcraft. And stubbornness is [like sin] & [like] idolatry. |
Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king. Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned & have [disobeyed] the [Lord’s command] & your words: because I [was afraid of] the people & obeyed their voice. |
Therefore, I now pray [that] you, pardon my sin & turn [back] again with me, [so] that I may [still] worship the Lord. Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the Word of the Lord & the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. |
As Samuel turned [around] to go away, [Saul grabbed the bottom of Samuel’s robe & tore] it. Samuel said to him, The Lord has [torn] the kingdom of Israel from you this day & has given it to a neighbor of yours, that is better than you. |
*Also, the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for He is not a man, that He should repent. [Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the Son of Man, that He should repent. Has He not said & shall He not do it? Or has He spoken [anything] & not [made] it good?] |
Then, [Saul] said, I have sinned: I pray [that] you [still] honor me now, before the elders of my people & before Israel & turn [back] with me again, [so] that I may worship the Lord your God. |
So, Samuel turned [back] again after Saul & Saul worshiped the Lord. Then, Samuel said, Bring Agag, the [Amalekites’] king, [here] to me. Agag came to him [cautiously] & said, Surely, the bitterness of death is past. |
Samuel said, As your sword [has] made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women & Samuel [cut] Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. |
Then, Samuel went to Ramah & Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. Samuel no [longer] came to see Saul until the day of his death. [Still,] Samuel mourned for Saul & the Lord [regretted] He had made Saul king over Israel. |