Saul’s Disobedience

15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “^(A)The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the ^[a]words of the Lord. ² This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘I will ^[b]punish Amalek ^(B)for what he did to Israel, in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. ³ Now go and strike Amalek and ^(C)completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but ^(D)put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

⁴ Then Saul summoned the people and ^[c]counted them in ^(E)Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ And Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ^[d]wadi. ⁶ But Saul said to ^(F)the Kenites, “Go, get away, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you along with them; for ^(G)you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they went up from Egypt.” So the Kenites got away from among the Amalekites. ⁷ Then ^(H)Saul ^[e]defeated the Amalekites, from ^(I)Havilah ^[f]going toward ^(J)Shur, which is ^[g]east of Egypt. ⁸ He captured ^(K)Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ^(L)completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people ^(M)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the more valuable animals, the lambs, and everything that was good, and were unwilling to destroy them completely; but everything despicable and weak, that they completely destroyed.

Samuel Rebukes Saul

¹⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹ “^(N)I regret that I have made Saul king, because ^(O)he has turned back from ^[h]following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was furious and ^(P)cried out to the Lord all night. ¹² Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was reported to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to ^(Q)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on ^[i]down to ^(R)Gilgal.” ¹³ So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “^(S)Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” ¹⁴ But Samuel said, “^(T)What then is this ^[j]bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the ^[k]bellowing of the oxen which I hear?” ¹⁵ Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ^(U)the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have completely destroyed.” ¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and let me inform you of what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

¹⁷ So Samuel said, “^[l]Is it not true, ^(V)though you were ^[m]insignificant in your own eyes, that you became the head of the tribes of Israel? For the Lord anointed you as king over Israel. ¹⁸ And the Lord sent you on a ^[n]mission, and said, ‘^(W)Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated.’ ¹⁹ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^(X)Instead, you loudly rushed upon the spoils and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord!”

²⁰ Then Saul said to Samuel, “^(Y)I did obey the voice of the Lord, for I went on the ^[o]mission on which the Lord sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹ But ^(Z)the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things designated for destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” ²² Samuel said,

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “^(AF)I have sinned, for ^(AG)I have violated the ^[p]command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. ²⁵ Now then, ^(AH)please pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” ²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for ^(AI)you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ²⁷ Then Samuel turned to go, but ^(AJ)Saul grasped the edge of his robe, and it tore off. ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, “^(AK)The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. ²⁹ Also the ^[q](AL)Glory of Israel ^(AM)will not lie nor change His mind; for He is not a man, that He would change His mind.” ³⁰ Then Saul said, “I have sinned; ^(AN)but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before all Israel, and go back with me, ^(AO)so that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him ^[r]cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is gone!” ³³ But Samuel said, “^(AP)As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to ^(AQ)Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at ^(AR)Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ And ^(AS)Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, though Samuel ^(AT)mourned for ^[s]Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

Samuel Goes to Bethlehem

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “^(A)How long are you going to mourn for ^[a]Saul, since ^(B)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(C)Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to ^(D)Jesse the Bethlehemite, because I have ^(E)chosen a king for Myself among his sons.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” But the Lord said, “^(F)Take a heifer ^[b]with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ And you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and ^(G)I will let you know what you shall do; and ^(H)you shall anoint for Me the one whom I ^[c]designate to you.” ⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord told him, and he came to ^(I)Bethlehem. Then the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “^(J)Do you come in peace?” ⁵ And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(K)Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they entered, he looked at ^(L)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is standing before Him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for ^[d]God does not see as man sees, since man looks at ^[e]the outward appearance, ^(M)but the Lord looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(N)Abinadab and had him pass before Samuel. But he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” ⁹ Next Jesse had ^[f](O)Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” ¹⁰ So Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the boys?” And he said, “^(P)The youngest is still left, but behold, he is tending the sheep.” So Samuel said to Jesse, “Send word and bring him; for we will not take our places at the table until he comes here.”

David Anointed

¹² So he sent word and brought him in. Now he was ^[g]reddish, with ^(Q)beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “^(R)Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and ^(S)anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(T)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

^14 (U)Now the Spirit of the Lord left Saul, and ^(V)an evil spirit from the Lord terrified him. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrifying you. ¹⁶ May our lord now command your servants who are before you. Have them search for a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall come about whenever the evil spirit from God is upon you, that ^(W)he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will become well.” ¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Now select for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ Then one of the young men responded and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, ^(X)a valiant mighty man, a warrior, skillful in speech, and a handsome man; and ^(Y)the Lord is with him.” ¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse ^[h]to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the flock.” ²⁰ And Jesse ^(Z)took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine, and he took a young goat, and sent them to Saul by his son David. ²¹ Then David came to Saul and ^[i](AA)attended him; and Saul greatly loved him, and he became his armor bearer. ²² So Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David now ^[j]be my attendant for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ So it came about whenever ^(AB)the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would feel relieved and become well, and the evil spirit would leave him.