1 Samuel

Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

1Samuel was a prophet, a man who told people what God said. He said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to pour oil on your head. That made you king over Israel, God's people. So now listen to what the LORD tells you."

2Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

2"The LORD, who rules over armies, says this: I remember what the Amalekites did. They hid and attacked Israel on the road up from Egypt."

3Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

3"Now go and attack the Amalekites. Destroy everything they have. Do not let anyone go. Put to death men and women, children and babies. Kill their cattle and sheep, their camels and donkeys."

4And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

4So Saul called his soldiers together. He counted them at a place called Telaim. There were 200,000 men on foot, and 10,000 more men from Judah.

5And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

5Saul came to a city of the Amalekites. He waited quietly in the valley, ready to attack.

6And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

6Saul sent word to the Kenites, another group of people. He said, "Move away from the Amalekites, or I will destroy you with them. You were kind to Israel when they came out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away.

7And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites. He fought them from Havilah all the way to Shur, near Egypt.

8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

8He caught Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive. He put all the other people to death with the sword.

9But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

9But Saul and his men let Agag live. They also kept the best sheep and cattle, the fat calves and the lambs. They kept everything that was good. They only destroyed what was weak and worth nothing.

10Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

10Then the LORD spoke to Samuel. He said:

11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

11"I am sorry that I made Saul king. He has turned away from me. He has not done what I told him to do." This upset Samuel. He cried out to the LORD all night long.

NoteThe old King James words "it repenteth me" mean "I am sorry" or "I wish I had not done that." The same word is used again in verses 29 and 35.

12And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.

12Samuel got up early to go and meet Saul. Someone told him, "Saul went to Carmel. He set up a stone there to honor himself. Then he moved on down to Gilgal."

13And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

13Samuel came to Saul. Saul said to him, "May the LORD bless you! I have done what the LORD told me to do."

14And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

14Samuel said, "Then why do I hear sheep? Why do I hear cattle mooing?"

15And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

15Saul said, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle as a gift for the LORD your God. We destroyed all the rest."

16Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

16Then Samuel said, "Stop. Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." Saul said, "Tell me."

17And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?

17Samuel said, "You once thought you were small and not important. But God made you the leader of all the tribes of Israel. The LORD poured oil on you and made you king."

18And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

18"The LORD sent you out with a job to do. He said, 'Go and destroy the Amalekites, who do evil. Fight them until they are gone.'"

19Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

19"So why did you not obey the LORD? You rushed to grab the things they left behind. You did what the LORD says is wrong."

20And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

20Saul said to Samuel, "But I did obey the LORD! I went where he sent me. I brought back Agag the king. I destroyed the Amalekites."

21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

21"The soldiers took some sheep and cattle from the things we captured. They took the best ones, to give as a gift to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

22And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

22Samuel said, "What does the LORD want more? Animals burned as gifts, or a person who obeys him? Listen: obeying is better than giving gifts. Doing what God says is better than the finest sheep."

Note"The fat of rams" means the best part of a male sheep. It was the piece people burned as a gift to God.

23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

23"Refusing to obey is as bad as using magic. Being stubborn is as bad as praying to false gods. You said no to the LORD's word. So he says you are no longer king."

24And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

24Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I did wrong. I broke the LORD's command and your words. I was afraid of the people, so I did what they wanted."

25Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.

25"Now please forgive me. Come back with me, so I can worship the LORD."

26And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

26Samuel said to Saul, "I will not go back with you. You said no to the LORD's word. So the LORD says you are no longer king over Israel."

27And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

27Samuel turned to walk away. Saul grabbed the edge of Samuel's robe, and it tore.

28And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

28Samuel said to him, "Today the LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you. He has given it to a man near you who is better than you."

29And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

29"God is the Strength of Israel. He does not lie, and he does not change his mind. He is not a person who changes his mind."

30Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.

30Saul said, "I have sinned. But please show me respect in front of the leaders and all Israel. Come back with me, so I can worship the LORD your God."

31So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.

31So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

32Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

32Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites." Agag came to him calmly. He thought, "The worst is over. I will not die."

NoteThe King James Bible says Agag came "delicately." That means he walked up calmly, because he thought he was safe.

33And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

33Samuel said, "Your sword took children away from their mothers. Now your own mother will lose her child." Then Samuel cut Agag to pieces at Gilgal, before the LORD.

34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

34Then Samuel went home to Ramah. Saul went up to his own house in Gibeah.

35And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

35Samuel never went to see Saul again for the rest of his life. But Samuel was sad about Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.