Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one whom the Lord sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord Almighty says.
1
Samuel said to Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words of Yahweh.
2 He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt.
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Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
3 Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."
3
Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
4 Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah.
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Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed.
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Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
6 He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: "Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won't kill you along with them." So the Kenites left.
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Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you shown kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 Saul defeated the Amalekites, fighting all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt;
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Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
8 he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people.
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He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless.
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But 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 wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
10 The Lord said to Samuel,
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Then came the word of Yahweh to Samuel, saying,
11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands." Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the Lord.
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It repents me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
12 Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal.
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Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
13 Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, "The Lord bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the Lord's command."
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Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed are you by Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.
14 Samuel asked, "Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?"
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Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15 Saul answered, "My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely."
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Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16 "Stop," Samuel ordered, "and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul said.
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Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me this night. He said to him, Say on.
17 Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel,
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Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;
18 and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all.
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and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'
19 Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to grab the loot, and so do what displeases the Lord?"
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Why then didn't you obey the voice of Yahweh, but flew on the spoil, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?"
20 "I did obey the Lord," Saul replied. "I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites.
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Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God."
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But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.
22 Samuel said, "Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.
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Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king."
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For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king.
24 "Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted.
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Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 But now I beg you, forgive my sin and go back with me, so that I can worship the Lord."
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Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.
26 "I will not go back with you," Samuel answered. "You rejected the Lord's command, and he has rejected you as king of Israel."
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Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.
27 Then Samuel turned to leave, but Saul caught hold of his cloak, and it tore.
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As Samuel turned about to go away, [Saul] laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
28 Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and given it to someone who is a better man than you.
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Samuel said to him, Yahweh 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 Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being - he does not change his mind."
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Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.
30 "I have sinned," Saul replied. "But at least show me respect in front of the leaders of my people and all of Israel. Go back with me so that I can worship the Lord your God."
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Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, Please, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.
31 So Samuel went back with him, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
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So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh.
32 "Bring King Agag here to me," Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, "What a bitter thing it is to die!"
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Then said Samuel, Bring you here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now your mother will become childless." And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal.
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Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and King Saul went home to Gibeah.
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Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.
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Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.