1 Samuel 15 - 16 — Legacy Standard Bible

Saul’s Disobedience

15Then Samuel said to Saul, “^aYahweh sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; so now, ¹obey the voice of the words of Yahweh. ²“Thus says Yahweh 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 ^adevote to destruction all that he has, and do not spare him; but ^bput to death both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, 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. ⁵And Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. ⁶And Saul said to ^athe Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; ^byou showed lovingkindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ⁷So ^aSaul struck the Amalekites, from ^bHavilah as you go to ^cShur, which is ¹east of Egypt. ⁸And he seized ^aAgag the king of the Amalekites alive and ^bdevoted to destruction 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 they were not willing to devote them to destruction; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Yahweh Regrets He Made Saul King

¹⁰Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹“^aI regret that I have made Saul king, for ^bhe has turned back from ¹following Me and has not established My words.” And Samuel became angry and ^ccried out to Yahweh all night. ¹²Then Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to ^aCarmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on ¹down to ^bGilgal.” ¹³And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “^aBlessed are you of Yahweh! I have established the word of Yahweh.” ¹⁴But Samuel said, “^aWhat then is this sound of the sheep in my ears and the sound of the oxen which I am hearing?” ¹⁵And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ^athe people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God; but the rest we have devoted to destruction.” ¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what Yahweh spoke to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

¹⁷And Samuel said, “Is it not true, ^athough you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And Yahweh anointed you king over Israel, ¹⁸and Yahweh sent you on a ¹mission and said, ‘^aGo and devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ ¹⁹“Why then did you not ¹obey the voice of Yahweh, ^abut rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh?”

²⁰Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI did ¹obey the voice of Yahweh and went on the way on which Yahweh sent me and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek and have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹“But ^athe people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal.” ²²And Samuel said, “^aHas Yahweh as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrificesAs in obeying the voice of Yahweh?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 ^bwickedness and idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh,^cHe has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI have sinned; ^bI have indeed trespassed against the ¹command of Yahweh and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵“So now, ^aplease forgive my sin and return with me, that I may worship Yahweh.” ²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for ^ayou have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ²⁷Then Samuel turned to go, but ^aSaul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸So Samuel said to him, “^aYahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. ²⁹“Also the ^aEternal One of Israel ^bwill not lie or have regret; for He is not a man that He should have regret.” ³⁰Then he said, “I have sinned; ^abut please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, ^bthat I may worship Yahweh your God.” ³¹So Samuel returned, following after Saul, and Saul worshiped Yahweh.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag near to me, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him ¹in chains. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has departed.” ³³But Samuel said, “^aAs your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before Yahweh at Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went to ^aRamah, but Saul went up to his house at ^bGibeah of Saul. ³⁵^aSo Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel ^bgrieved over Saul. And Yahweh regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

16Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “^aHow long will you be grieving over Saul? ^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 ^esee among his sons a king for Me.” ²But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear of it and will kill me.” Then Yahweh said, “^aTake a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ³“And you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and ^aI will make you know what you shall do; and ^byou shall anoint for Me the one whom I say to you.” ⁴So Samuel did what Yahweh said and came to ^aBethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “^bDo you come in peace?” ⁵And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. ^aSet yourselves apart as holy and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also set apart Jesse and his sons as holy and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶Now it happened, when they entered, he looked at ^aEliab and thought, “Surely the anointed of Yahweh is before Him.” ⁷But Yahweh 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 Yahweh looks at the heart.” ⁸Then Jesse called ^aAbinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one either.” ⁹Next Jesse made ¹^,^aShammah pass by. And he said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one either.” ¹⁰Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen these.” ¹¹And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the young men?” And he said, “^aThere remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is shepherding the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and ¹bring him, for we will not turn around until he comes here.” ¹²So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with ^abeautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And Yahweh 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 Yahweh ¹came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

David Becomes Saul’s Armor Bearer

¹⁴^aNow the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and ^ban evil spirit from Yahweh terrorized him. ¹⁵Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. ¹⁶“Let our lord now speak to your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, ^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 answered and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, ^aa mighty man of valor, a warrior, one who is understanding in speech, and a man of fine form; and ^bYahweh is with him.” ¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.” ²⁰And Jesse ^atook a donkey loaded with bread and a wineskin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David his son. ²¹Then David came to Saul and ^astood before him; and ¹Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. ²²So Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³Thus it happened that 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.