1Sa 15, 1Sa 24 | ESV | STEP | And Samuel said to Saul , The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel ; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord .

bg[See ver. 6 above]

bh Ps. 7:3

bi ch. 26:20

bj Gen. 16:5; Judg. 11:27

bkSee ch. 17:43

bl ch. 26:20

bm[See ver. 12 above]

bn ch. 25:39; Ps. 35:1; 43:1; 119:154

1 Samuel 15

The Lord Rejects Saul

1 And Samuel said to Saul, ^a“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel ^bin opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and ^cdevote to destruction ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20, 21} all that they have. Do not spare them, ^ebut kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to ^fthe Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. ^gFor you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 ^hAnd Saul defeated the Amalekites from ⁱHavilah as far as ^jShur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive ^kand devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 ^lBut Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain} and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 ⁿ“I regret ^{▼▼See also verses 29, 35} that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and ^phas not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to ^qCarmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, ^r“Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, ^sfor the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

17 And Samuel said, ^t“Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^uWhy did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, ^v“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 ^wBut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said,

^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 listen than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and ^zidolatry.
Because ^aayou have rejected the word of the Lord,
^abhe has also rejected you from being king.”
24 Saul said to Samuel, ^ac“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and ^adreturn with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. ^aeFor you have rejected the word of the Lord, ^afand the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 ^agAs Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, ^ah“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel ^aiwill not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ^ajhonor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, ^akand return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. ^{▼▼Or haltingly (compare Septuagint); the Hebrew is uncertain} Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, ^am“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^anin Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went ^aoto Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ^apGibeah of Saul. 35 ^aqAnd Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^arbut Samuel grieved over Saul. ^asAnd the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Samuel 24

David Spares Saul’s Life

1 ^{▼▼Ch 24:2 in Hebrew} ^auWhen Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took ^avthree thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in ^awto relieve himself. ^{▼▼Hebrew cover his feet} Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts ^ayof the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, ^az“Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 And afterward ^baDavid’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, ^bb“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is ^bcthe Lord’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words ^bdand did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. ^beAnd some told me to kill you, but I spared you. ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew it [my eye] spared you} I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, ^bgfor he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that ^bhthere is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though ^biyou hunt my life to take it. 12 ^bjMay the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? ^bkAfter a dead dog! ^blAfter a flea! 15 ^bmMay the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and ^bnplead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”

16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, ^bo“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, ^bpfor you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, ^bqI know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 ^brSwear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and ^bsthat you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up ^btto the stronghold.