Saul anointed king
The First Book of Samuel, chapters 8 thru 15
8 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges in
Israel. The eldest son was named Joel and the second Abiah; they
acted as judges in Beersheba. His sons did not follow in their father's
footsteps but were intent on their own profit, taking bribes and perverting
the course of justice. So all the elders of Israel met, and came to Samuel
at Ramah and said to him, 'You are now old and your sons do not follow
in your footsteps; appoint us a king to govern us, like other nations.' But
their request for a king to govern them displeased Samuel, and he prayed
to the Lord. The Lord answered Samuel, 'Listen to the people and all
that they are saying; they have not rejected you, it is I whom they have
rejected, I whom they will not have to be their king. They are now doing
to you just what they have done to me since I brought them up from Egypt:
they have forsaken me and worshipped other gods. Hear what they have
to say now, but give them a solemn warning and tell them what sort of king
will govern them.' Samuel told the people who were asking him for a king
all that the Lord had said to him. 'This will be the sort of king who will
govern you', he said. He will take your sons and make them serve in his
chariots and with his cavalry, and will make them run before his chariot.
Some he will appoint officers over units of a thousand and units of fifty.
Others will plough his fields and reap his harvest; others again will make
weapons of war and equipment for mounted troops. He will take your
daughters for perfumers, cooks, and confectioners, and will seize the best
of your cornfields, vineyards, and olive-yards, and give them to his lackeys.
He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage to give to his eunuchs
and lackeys. Your slaves, both men and women, and the best of your cattle
and your asses he will seize and put to his own use. He will take a tenth of
your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day
comes, you will cry out against the king whom you have chosen; but it
will be too late, the Lord will not answer you.' The people refused to listen
to Samuel; 'No,' they said, 'we will have a king over us; then we shall be
like other nations, with a king to govern us, to lead us out to war and fight
our battles.' So Samuel, when he had heard what the people said, told the
Lord; and he answered, 'Take them at their word and appoint them a
king.' Samuel then dismissed all the men of Israel to their homes.
9 There was a man from the district of Benjamin, whose name was Kish
son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Bechorath, son of Aphiah a Benjamite.
He was a man of substance, and had a son named Saul, a young man in
his prime; there was no better man among the Israelites than he. He was
a head taller than any of his fellows.
One day some asses belonging to Saul's father Kish had strayed, so he
said to his son Saul, 'Take one of the servants with you, and go and look
for the asses. They crossed the hill-country of Ephraim and went through
the district of Shalisha but did not find them; they passed though the
district of Benjamin but again did not find them. When they had entered
the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant with him, 'Come, we ought to
turn back, or my father will stop thinking about the asses and begin to
worry about us.' The servant answered, 'There is a man of God in the city
here, who has a great reputation, because everything he says comes true.
Suppose we go there; he may tell us something about this errand of ours.'
Saul said, 'If we do go, what shall we offer him? There is no food left in
our packs and we have no present for the man of God, nothing at all.' The
servant answered him again, 'Wait! I have here a quarter-shekel of silver.
I can give that to the man, to tell us what we should do.' Saul said, 'Good!
let us go to him.' so they went to the city where the man of God was. (In
days gone by in Israel, when a man wished to consult God, he would say,
'Let us go to the seer.' For what is nowadays called a prophet used to be
called a seer.) As they were going up the hill to the city they met some girls
coming out to draw water and asked, 'Shall we find the seer there?' 'Yes,'
they said, 'the seer is ahead of you now; he has just arrived in the city
because there is a feast at the hill-shrine today. As you enter the city you
will meet him before he goes to the shrine to eat; the people will not
start until he comes, for he has to bless the sacrifice before the company
can eat. Go up now, and you will find him at once.' So they went up to the
city, and just as they were going in, there was Samuel coming towards them
on his way up to the shrine.
Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had disclosed his intention to
Samuel in these words: 'At this same time tomorrow I will send you a man
from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him prince over my people Israel, and
then he shall deliver my people from the Philistines. I have seen the
sufferings of my people and their cry has reached my ears.' The moment
Saul appeared the Lord said to Samuel, 'Here is the man of whom I
spoke to you. This man shall rule my people.' Saul came up to Samuel in
the gateway and said, 'Would you tell me where the seer lives?' Samuel
replied, 'I am the seer. Go on ahead of me to the hill-shrine and you shall
eat with me today; in the morning I will set you on your way, after telling
you what you have on your mind. Trouble yourself no more about the
asses lost three days ago, for they have been found. But what is it that all
Israel is wanting? It is you and your ancestral house.' 'But I am a Benjamite,'
said Saul, 'from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the
least important of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Why do you
say this to me?' Samuel then brought Saul and his servant into the dining-
hall and gave them a place at the head of the company, which numbered
about thirty. Then he said to the cook, 'Bring the portion that I gave you
and told you to put on one side.' So the cook took up the whole haunch
and leg and put it before Saul; and Samuel said, 'Here is the portion of
meat kept for you. Eat it: it has been reserved for you at this feast to
which I have invited the people.' So Saul dined with Samuel that day, and
when they came down from the hill-shrine to the city a bed was spread on
the roof for Saul, and he stayed there that night. At dawn Samuel called
to Saul on the roof, 'Get up, and I will set you on your way.' When Saul
rose, he and Samuel went out together into the street. As they came to the
end of the town, Samuel said to Saul, 'Tell the boy to go on.' He did so,
and then Samuel said, 'Stay here a moment, and I will tell you the word of
God.'
10 Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over Saul's head, and he kissed
him and said, 'The Lord anoints you prince over his people Israel; you
shall rule the people of the Lord and deliver them from the enemies round
about them. You shall have a sign that the Lord has anointed you prince
to govern his inheritance: when you leave me today, you will meet two men
by the tomb of Rachel at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will
tell you that the asses you are looking for have been found and that your
father is concerned for them no longer; he is anxious about you and says
again and again, "What shall I do about my son?" From there go across
country as far as the terebinth of Tabor, where three men going up to
Bethel to worship God will meet you. One of them will be carrying three
kids, the second three loaves, and the third a flagon of wine. They will
greet you an offer you two loaves, which you will accept from them.
Then when you reach the Hill of God, where the Philistine governor
resides, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the hill-
shrine, led by a lute, harp, fife, and drum, and filled with prophetic rapture.
Then the spirit of the Lord will suddenly take possession of you, and you
too will be rapt like a prophet and become another man. When these signs
happen, do whatever the occasion demands; God will be with you. You
shall go down to Gilgal ahead of me, and I will come to you to sacrifice
whole-offerings and shared-offerings. Wait seven days until I join you;
then I will tell you what to do.' As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave
him a new heart. On that same day all these signs happened. When they
reached the Hill there was a company of prophets coming to meet him, and
the spirit of God suddenly took possession of him, so that he too was filled
with prophetic rapture. When people who had known him previously saw
that he was rapt like the prophets, they said to one another, 'What can
have happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul among the prophets?' One
of the men of that place said, 'And whose sons are they?' Hence the pro-
verb, 'Is Saul among the prophets?' When the prophetic rapture had
passed, he went home. Saul's uncle said to him and the boy, 'Where have
you been?' Saul answered, 'To look for the asses, and when we could not
find them, we went to Samuel.' His uncle said, 'Tell me what Samuel said.'
'He told us that the asses had been found', said Saul; but he did not repeat
what Samuel had told him about his being king.
Meanwhile Samuel summoned the Israelites to the Lord at Mizpah
and said to the people, 'This is the word of the Lord the God of Israel:
I brought Israel up from Egypt; I delivered you from the Egyptians and
from all the kingdoms that oppressed you; but today you have rejected
your God who saved you from all your misery and distress; you have said,
"No, set up a king over us." Now therefore take up your positions before
the Lord tribe by tribe and clan by clan.' Samuel then presented all the
tribes of Israel, and Benjamin was picked by lot. Then he presented the
tribe of Benjamin, family by family, and the family of Matri was picked.
Then he presented the family of Matri, man by man, and Saul son of Kish
was picked; but when they looked for him he could not be found. They
went on to ask the Lord, 'Will the man be coming back?' The Lord
answered, 'There he is, hiding among the baggage.' So someone ran and
fetched him out, and as he took his stand among the people, he was a head
taller than anyone else. Samuel said to the people, 'Look at the man whom
the Lord has chosen; there is no one like him in this whole nation.' They
all acclaimed him, shouting, 'Long live the king!' Samuel then explained
to the people the nature of a king, and made a written record of it on a scroll
which he deposited before the Lord; then he dismissed them to their
homes. Saul too went home to Gibeah, and with him went some fighting
men whose hearts God had moved. But there were scoundrels who said,
'How can this fellow deliver us?' They thought nothing of him and
brought him no gifts.
11 About a month later Nahash the Ammonite attacked and besieged
Jabesh-gilead. The men of Jabesh said to Nahash, 'Come to terms with
us and we will be your subjects.' Nahash answered them, 'On one con-
dition only will I come to terms with you: that I gouge out your right eyes
and bring disgrace on Israel.' The elders of Jabesh-gilead then said, 'Give
us seven days' respite to send messengers throughout Israel and then, if
no one relieves us, we will surrender to you.' When the messengers came
to Gibeah, where Saul lived, and delivered their message, all the people
broke into lamentation. Saul was just coming from the field driving in the
oxen, and asked why the people were lamenting; and they repeated what
the men of Jabesh had said. When Saul heard this, the spirit of God
suddenly seized him. In his anger he took a pair of oxen and cut them in
pieces, and sent messengers with the pieces all through Israel to proclaim
that the same would be done to the oxen of any man who did not follow
Saul and Samuel into battle. The fear of the Lord fell upon the people and
they came out, to a man. Saul mustered them in Bezek; there were three
hundred thousand men from Israel and thirty thousand from Judah.
He said to the men who brought the message, 'Tell the men of Jabesh-
gilead, 'Victory will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot." ' The
men of Jabesh heard what the messengers reported and took heart; and
they said to Nahash, 'Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and then you
may deal with us as you think fit.' Next day Saul drew up his men in three
columns; they forced their way right into the enemy camp during the
morning watch and massacred the Ammonites while the day grew hot,
after which the survivors scattered until no two men were left together.
Then the people said to Samuel, 'Who said that Saul should not reign
over us? Hand the men over to us to be put to death.' But Saul said, 'No
man shall be put to death on a day when the Lord has won such a victory
in Israel.' Samuel said to the people, 'Let us now go to Gilgal and there
renew our alliance to the kingdom.' So they all went to Gilgal and
invested Saul there as king in the presence of the Lord, sacrificing shared-
offerings before the Lord; and Saul and all the Israelites celebrated the
occasion with great joy.
12 Then Samuel thus addressed the assembled Israelites: 'I have
listened to your request and installed a king to rule over you. And the king
is now your leader, while I am old and white-haired and my sons are with
you; but I have been your leader ever since I was a child. Here I am. Lay
your complaints against me in the presence of the Lord and of his anointed
king. Whose ox have I taken, whose ass have I taken? Whom have I
wronged, whom have I oppressed? From whom have I taken a bribe, to
turn a blind eye? Tell me, and I will make restitution.' They answered,
'You have not wronged us, you have not oppressed us; you have not taken
anything from any man.' Samuel then said to them, 'This day the Lord
is witness among you, his anointed king is witness, that you have found
my hands empty.' They said, 'He is witness.' Samuel said to the people,
'Yes, the Lord is witness, the Lord who gave you Moses and Aaron and
brought your fathers out of Egypt. Now, stand up, and here in the presence
of the Lord I will put the case against you and recite all the victories which
he has won for you and for your fathers. After Jacob and his sons had come
down to Egypt and the Egyptians had made them suffer, your fathers cried
to the Lord for help, an he sent Moses and Aaron, who brought them out
of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the Lord their
God, and he abandoned them to Sisera, commander-in-chief of Jabin
king of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab, and they had to
fight against them. Then your fathers cried to the Lord for help: "We
have sinned, we have forsaken the Lord and we have worshipped the
Baalim and Ashtaroth. But now, if thou wilt deliver us from our
enemies, we will worship thee." So the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak,
Jephthah and Samson, and delivered you from your enemies on every
side; and you lived in peace and quiet.
'Then, when you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites coming against
you, although the Lord your God was your king, you said to me, "No, let
us have a king to rule over us." Now, here is the king you asked for; you
chose him, and the Lord has set a king over you. If you will revere the Lord
and give true and loyal service, if you do not rebel against his commands,
and if you and the king who reigns over you are faithful to the Lord your
God, well and good; but if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel
against his commands, then he will set his face against you and against
your king.
'Stand still, and see the great wonder which the Lord will do before your
eyes. It is now wheat harvest; when I call upon the Lord and he sends
thunder and rain, you will see and know how wicked it was in the Lord's
eyes for you to ask for a king. So Samuel called upon the Lord and he
sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people were in great fear of the
Lord and of Samuel. They said to Samuel, 'Pray for us your servants to
the Lord your God, to ave us from death; for we have added to all our
other sins the great wickedness of asking for a king.' Samuel said to the
people, 'Do not be afraid; although you have been so wicked, do not give
up the worship of the Lord, but serve him with all your heart. Give up
the worship of false gods which can neither help nor save, because they
are false. For his name's sake the Lord will not cast you off, because he
has resolved to make you his own people. As for me, God forbid that I
should sin against the Lord and cease to pray for you. I will show you what
is right and good: to revere the Lord and worship him faithfully with all
your heart. Consider what great things he has done for you; but if you per-
sist in wickedness, you shall be swept away, you and your king.'
Saul was fifty years old when he became king, and he reigned over
Israel for twenty-two years. He picked three thousand men from Israel,
two thousand to be with him in Michmash and the hill-country of Bethel
and a thousand to be with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; and he sent
the rest of the people home.
Jonathan killed the Philistine governor in Geba, and the news spread
among the Philistines that the Hebrews were in revolt. Saul sounded
the trumpet all through the land; and when the Israelites all heard that
Saul had killed a Philistine governor and that the name of Israel stank
among the Philistines, they answered the call to arms and came to join
Saul at Gilgal. The Philistines mustered to attack Israel; they had thirty
thousand chariots and six thousand horses, with infantry as countless as
sand on the sea-shore. They went up and camped at Michmash, to the east
of Beth-aven. The Israelites found themselves in sore straits, for the army
was hard pressed, so they hid themselves in caves and holes and among the
rocks, in pits and cisterns. Some of them crossed the Jordan into the
district of Gad and Gilead, but Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the people
at his back were in alarm. He waited seven days for his meeting with
Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; so the people began to drift
away from Saul. He said therefore, 'Bring me the whole-offering and the
shared-offerings', and he offered up the whole-offering. Saul had just
finished the sacrifice, when Samuel arrived, and he went out to greet him.
Samuel said, 'What have you done?', and Saul answered, 'I saw that the
people were drifting away from me, and you yourself had not come as
you had promised, and the Philistines were assembling at Michmash; and
I thought, "The Philistines will now move against me at Gilgal, and I
have not placated the Lord"; so I felt compelled to make the whole-
offering myself.' Samuel said to Saul, 'You have behaved foolishly. You
have not kept the command laid on you by the Lord your God; if you had,
he would have established your dynasty over Israel for all time. But now
your line will not endure; the Lord will seek a man after his own heart, and
will appoint hi prince over his people, because you have not kept the
Lord's command.'
Samuel left Gilgal without more ado and went on his way. The rest of
the people followed Saul, as he moved from Gilgal towards the enemy.
At Gibeah of Benjamin he mustered the people who were with him; they
were about six hundred men. Saul and his son Jonathan and the men they
had with them took up their quarters in Gibeah of Benjamin, while the
Philistines were encamped at Michmash. Raiding parties went out from
the Philistine camp in three directions. One party turned toward Ophrah
in the district of Shual, another toward Beth-horon, and the third towards
the range of hills overlooking the valley of Zeboim and the wilderness
beyond. '
No blacksmith was to be found in the whole of Israel, for the Philistines
were determined to prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.
The Israelites had to go down to the Philistines for their ploughshares,
mattocks, axes, and sickles to be sharpened. The charge was two-thirds of
a shekel for ploughshares and mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for
sharpening the axes and setting the goads. So when war broke out none
of the followers of Saul and Jonathan had either sword or spear; only Saul
and Jonathan carried arms.
Now the Philistines had posted a force to hold the pass of Michmash;
14 and one day Saul's son Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, 'Come, let us
go over to the Philistine post beyond that ridge'; but he did not tell his
father. Saul, at the time, had his tent under he pomegranate-tree at
Migron at the outskirts of Gibeah; and he had about six hundred men
with him. The ephod was carried by Ahijah son of Ahitub, Ichabod's
brother, son of Phinehas son of Eli, the priest of the Lord at Shiloh.
Nobody knew that Jonathan had gone. On either side of the pass through
which Jonathan tried to make his way over to the Philistine post stood two
sharp columns of rock, called Bozez and Seneh; one of them was on the
north towards Michmash, and the other on the south towards Geba.
Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, 'Now we will visit the post of those
uncircumcised rascals. Perhaps the Lord will take a hand in it, and if he
will, nothing can stop him. He can bring us safe through, whether we are
few or many.' The young man answered, 'Do what you will, go forward;
I am with you whatever you do.' 'Good!' said Jonathan, 'we will cross over
and let them see us. If they say, "Stay where you are till we come to you",
then we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say,
"Come up to us", we will go up; this will be the sign that the Lord has put
them into our power.' So they showed themselves to the Philistines, and
the Philistines said, 'Look! Hebrews coming out of holes where they
have been hiding!' And they called across to Jonathan and the young man,
'Come up to us; we have something to show you.' Jonathan said to the
young man, 'Come on, the Lord has put them into the power of Israel.'
The Philistines fell in front of Jonathan, and the young man, coming
behind him, dispatched them. In that first attack Jonathan and his armour-
bearer killed about twenty of them, like men cutting a furrow across a
half-acre field. Terror spread through the army in the field and through
the whole people; the men at the post and the raiding parties were terrified;
the very earth quaked, and there was panic.
Saul's men on the watch in Gibeah of Benjamin saw the mob of Pilis-
tines surging to and fro in confusion; so he ordered the people to call the
roll and find out who was missing; and they called the roll and found that
Jonathan and his armour-bearer were absent. Saul said to Ahijah, 'Bring
forward the ephod', for it was he who carried the ephod at that time before
Israel. But while Saul was still speaking, the confusion in the Philistine
camp was increasing more and more, and he said to the priest, 'Hold your
hand.' Then Saul and all his men with shouting made for the battlefield,
where they found the enemy fighting one another in complete disorder.
The Hebrews who up to now had been under the Philistines, and had been
with them in camp, changed sides and joined the Israelites under Saul and
Jonathan. All the Israelites in hiding in the hill-country of Ephraim heard
that the Philistines were in flight, and they also joined in and set off in hot
pursuit. The Lord delivered Israel that day, and the fighting passed on
beyond Beth-aven.
Now the Israelites on that day had been driven to exhaustion. Saul had
adjured the people in these words: 'A curse be on the man who eats any
food before nightfall until I have taken vengeance on my enemies.' So no
one ate any food. Now there was honeycomb in the country-side; but
when his men came upon it, dripping with honey though it was, not one
of them put his hand to his mouth for fear of the oath. But Jonathan had
not heard his father lay this solemn prohibition on the people, and he
stretched out the stick that was in his hand, dipped the end of it in the
honeycomb, put it to his mouth and was refreshed. One of the people said
to him, 'Your father solemnly forbade this; he said, 'A curse on the man
who eats food today!" ' Now the men were faint from hunger. Jonathan
said, 'My father has done the people nothing but harm; see how I am
refreshed by this mere taste of honey. How much better if the people had
eaten today whatever they took from their enemies by way of spoil! Then
there would indeed have been a great slaughter of Philistines.
They defeated the Philistines that day, and pursued them from Mich-
mash to Aijalon. But the people were so faint with hunger that they turned
to plunder and seized sheep, cattle, and bullocks; they slaughtered them
on the bare ground, and ate the meat with the blood in it. Someone told
Saul that the people were sinning against the Lord by eating their meat with
the blood in it. 'This is treason!' cried Saul. 'Roll a great stone here at
once.' He then said, 'Go about among the people and tell them to bring
their oxen and sheep, and let each man slaughter his here and eat it; and
so they will not sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it.'
So as night fell each man came, driving his own ox, and slaughtered it
there. Thus Saul came to build an altar to the Lord, and this was the first
altar to the Lord that Saul built.
Saul said, 'Let us go down and make a night attack on the Philistines
and harry them until daylight; we will not spare a man of them.' The people
answered, 'Do what you think best', but the priest said, 'Let us first consult
God.' So Saul inquired of God, 'Shall I pursue the Philistines? Wilt
thou put them into Israel's power?'; but this time he received no answer.
So he said, 'Let all the leaders of the people come forward and let us find
out where the sin lies this day. As the Lord lives, the deliverer of Israel,
even if it lies in my son Jonathan, he shall die.' Not a soul answered him.
Then he said to the Israelites, 'All of you stand on one side, and I and my
son Jonathan will stand on the other.' The people answered, 'Do what you
think best.' Saul said to the Lord the God of Israel, 'Why hast thou not
answered thy servant today? If this guilt lie in me or in my son Jonathan,
O Lord God of Israel, let the lot be Urim; if it lie in thy people Israel,
let it be Thummim.' Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people were
cleared. Then Saul said, 'Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan';
and Jonathan was taken. Saul said to Jonathan, 'Tell me what you have
done.' Jonathan told him, 'True, I did taste a little honey on the tip of my
stick. Here I am; I am ready to die.' Then Saul swore a great oath that
Jonathan should die. But the people said to Saul, 'Shall Jonathan die,
Jonathan who has won this great victory in Israel? God forbid! As the
Lord lives, not a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has been
at work with God today.' So the people ransomed Jonathan and he did not
die. Saul broke off the pursuit of the Philistines because they had made their
way home.
When Saul had made his throne secure in Israel, he fought against his
enemies on every side, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the
king of Zobah, and the Philistines; and wherever he turned he was success-
ful. He displayed his strength by defeating the Amalekites and freeing
Israel from hostile raids.
Saul's sons were: Jonathan, Ishyo and Malchishua. These were the
names of his two daughters: Merab the elder and Michal the younger. His
wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz, and his commander-in-chief
was Abner son of his uncle Ner; Kish, Saul's father, and Ner, Abner's
father, were sons of Abiel.
There was bitter warfare with the Philistines throughout Saul's lifetime;
any strong man and any brave man that he found he took into his own
service.
15 Samuel said to Saul, 'The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his
people Israel. Now listen to the voice of the Lord. This is the very word of
the Lord of Hosts: "I am much resolved to punish the Amelekites for what they
did to Israel, how they attacked them on their way up from Egypt." Go
now and fall upon the Amelekites and destroy them, and put their property
under ban. Spare no one; put them all to death, men and women, children
and babes in arms, herds and flocks, camels and asses.' Thereupon Saul
called out the levy and mustered them in Telaim. There were two hundred
thousand foot-soldiers and another ten thousand from Judah. He came
to the Amalekite city and halted for a time in the gorge. Meanwhile he sent
word to the Kenites to leave the Amalekites and come down, or', he said,
'I shall destroy you as well as them; but you were friendly to Israel when
they came up from Egypt.' So the Kenites left the Amalekites. Then Saul
cut the Amalekites to pieces, all the way from Havilah to Shur on th borders
of Egypt. Agag the king of the Amalekites he took alive, but he destroyed
all the people, putting them to the sword. Saul and his army spared Agag
and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat beasts and the lambs and every-
thing worth keeping; they were unwilling to destroy them, but anything
that was useless and of no value they destroyed.
Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 'I repent of having made
Saul king, for he has turned his back on me and has not obeyed my com-
mands.' Samuel was angry; all night he cried aloud to the Lord. Early
next morning he went out to meet Saul, but was told that he had gone to
Carmel; Saul had set up a monument for himself there, and had then
turned and gone own to Gilgal. There Samuel found him, and Saul
greeted him with the words, 'The Lord's blessing upon you! I have
obeyed the Lord's commands. But Samuel said, 'What then is that bleat-
ing of sheep in my ears? Why do I hear the lowing of cattle?' Saul answered,
'The people have taken them from the Amalekites. These are what they
spared, the best of the sheep and cattle, to sacrifice to the Lord your God.
The rest we completely destroyed.' Samuel said to Saul, 'Let be, and I will
tell you what the Lord said to me last night.' 'Tell me', said Saul. So
Samuel went on, 'Time was when you thought little of yourself, but now
you are head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord has anointed you king
over Israel. The Lord has sent you with strict instructions to destroy that
wicked nation, the Amalekites; you were to fight against them until you
had wiped them out. Why then did you not obey the Lord? Why did you
pounce upon the spoil and do what was wrong in the eyes of the Lord?'
Saul answered Samuel, 'But I did obey the Lord; I went where the Lord
sent me, and I have brought back Agag king of the Amalekites. The rest
of them I destroyed. Out of the spoil the people took the sheep and oxen, the
choicest animals laid under ban, to sacrifice to the Lord your God
at Gilgal.' Samuel then said:
Does the Lord desire offerings and sacrifices
as he desires obedience?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and to listen to him than the fat of rams.
Defiance of him is sinful as witchcraft,
yielding to men as evil as idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
the Lord has rejected you as king.
Saul said to Samuel, 'I have sinned. I have ignored the Lord's com-
mand and your orders: I was afraid of the people and deferred to them.
But now forgive my sin, I implore you, and come back with me, and I will
make my submission before the Lord.' Samuel answered, 'I will not come
back with you; you have rejected the word of the Lord and therefore the
Lord has rejected you as king over Israel.' He turned to go, but Saul caught
the edge of his cloak and it tore. And Samuel said to him, 'The Lord has
torn the kingdom of Israel from your hand today and will give it to another,
a better man that you. God who is the Splendour of Israel does not deceive
or change his mind; he is not a man that he should change his mind.' Saul
said, 'I have sinned; but honour me this once before the elders of my people
and before Israel and come back with me, and I will make my submission
to the Lord your God.' So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul made
his submission to the Lord. Then Samuel said, 'Bring Agag king of the
Amalekites.' So Agag came to him with faltering step and said, 'Surely the
bitterness of death has passed.' Samuel said 'Your sword has made women
childless, and your mother of all women shall be childless too.' Then
Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
Saul went to his own home at Gibeah, and Samuel went to Ramah; and
he never saw Saul again to his dying day, but he mourned for him, because
the Lord had repented of having made him king over Israel.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted May 9, 2018, 1:31 AM UTC · edited
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