rd

1 Samuel 15

3 Saúl is commanded to slay Amalék. 9 He spareth Agág and the best things. 19 Samuél reproveth him. 28 Saúl is rejected of the Lord, and his kingdome given to another. 33 Samuél heweth Agág in pieces.
1.Afterwarde Samuél said unto Saúl, *The Lord sent me to anoint thee King over his people over Israél: nowe therefore aobey the voyce of the wordes of the Lord.
2.Thus saith the Lord of hostes, I remember what Amalék did to Israél, *how they layed wait for them in the way, as they came up from Egypt.
3.Nowe therefore go, and smite Amalék, and destroye ye all that perteineth unto them, and have no compassion on them, but bslay bothe man and woman, bothe infant and suckeling, bothe oxe, and shepe, bothe camel, and asse.
4.¶ And Saúl assembled the people, and ^nombred them in Telaím, two hundreth thousand fotemen, and ten thousand men of Judáh.
5.And Saúl came to a citie of Amalék, ^and set watch at the river.
6.And Saúl said unto the cKenites, Go, departe, and get you downe from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed dmercy to all the children of Israél, when they came up from Egypt: and the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7.So Saúl smote the Amalekites from Haviláh as thou commest to Shur, that is before Egypt,
8.And toke Agág the King of the Amalekites alive, and destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9.But Saúl and the people spared Agág, and the better shepe, and the oxen, and the fat beastes, and the lambes, & all that was good, & they wolde not destroye them: but every thing that was vile and noght worthe, that they destroyed.
10.¶ Then came the worde of the Lord unto Samuél, saying,
11.It erepenteth me that I have made Saúl King: for he is turned from me, & hathe not performed my commandments. And Samuél was moved, & cryed unto the Lord all night.
12.And when Samuél arose early to mete Saúl in the morning, one tolde Samuél, saying, Saúl is gone to Carmél: and beholde, he hathe made him there a place, from whence he returned, and departed, and is gone downe to Gilgál.
13.¶ Then Samuél came to Saúl, & Saúl said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the fcommandment of the Lord.
14.But Samuél said, What meaneth then this bleating of the shepe in mine eares, and the lowing of the oxen which I heare?
15.And Saúl answered, Thei have broght them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the shepe, and of the oxen to sacrifice them unto the Lord thy God, and the remnant have we destroyed.
16.Againe Samuél said to Saúl, Let me tel thee what the Lord hathe said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17.Then Samuél said, When thou wast glitle in thine owne sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israél? for the Lord anointed thee King over Israél.
18.And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and destroye those sinners the Amalekites, & fight against them, until thou destroye them.
19.Now wherefore hast thou not obeyed the voyce of the Lord, but hast turned to the praye, and hast done wickedly in the sight of the Lord?
20.And Saúl said unto Samuél, Yea, I hhave obeyd the voyce of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have broght Agág the King of Amalék, and have destroyed the Amalekites.
21.But the people toke of the spoyle, shepe, and oxen, and the chiefest of the things which shulde have bene destroyed, to offer unto the Lord thy God in Gilgál.
22.And Samuél said, Hathe the Lord as great pleasure in burnt offrings and sacrifices, as when the voyce of the Lord is obeied? beholde, *to obey is better then sacrifice, and to hearken is better then the fat of rammes.
23.For irebellion is as the sinne of witchcraft, & transgression is wickednes and idolatrie. Because thou hast cast away the worde of the Lord, therefore he hathe cast away thee from being King.
24.Then Saúl said unto Samuél, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandement of the Lord, & thy wordes, because I feared the people, and obeied their voyce.
25.Now therefore, I pray thee, take away my ksinne, and turne againe with me, that I may worship the Lord.
26.But Samuél said unto Saúl, I wil not returne with thee: for thou hast cast awaye the worde of the Lord, and the Lord hathe cast away thee, that thou shalt not be King over Israél.
27.And as Samuél turned him selfe to go away, he caught the lap of his coat, and it rent.
28.Then Samuél said unto him, The Lord hathe rent the kingdome of Israél from thee this day, and hathe given it to thy lneighbour, that is better then thou.
29.For in dede the mstrength of Israél wil not lie nor repent: for he is not a man that he shulde repent.
30.Then he said, I have sinned: but honour me, I pray thee, before the Elders of my people, and before Israél, and turne againe with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.
31.¶ So Samuél turned againe, and followed Saúl: and Saúl worshipped the Lord.
32.Then said Samuél, Bring ye hither to me Agág the King of the Amalekites: and Agág came unto him ^pleasantly, and Agág said, Truly the nbitternes of death is passed.
33.And Samuél said, *As thy sworde hathe made women childeles, so shal thy mother be childeles among other women. And Samuél hewed Agág in pieces before the Lord in Gilgál.
34.¶ So Samuél departed to oRamah, and Saúl went up to his house to Gibeáh of Saúl.
35.And Samuél came nomore to pse Saúl until the day of his death: but Samuél mourned for Saúl, and the Lord qrepented that he made Saúl King over Israél.

Notes

1-*.
Ch. 9.16.
1-a.
Because he had preferred you to this honour, you are bound to obey him.
2-*.
Ex. 17.14, Num. 24.20.
3-b.
That this might be an example of God’s vengeance against them that deal cruelly with his people.
4-^.
Or, knew their number by the lambs, which they brought.
5-^.
Or, fought in the valley.
6-c.
Which were the posterity of Jethro Moses’ father in law.
6-d.
For Jethro came to visit them and gave them good counsel, Ex. 18.19.
11-e.
God in his eternal counsel never changes nor repents, as verse 29, though he seems to us to repent, when anything goes contrary to his temporal election.
13-f.
This is the nature of hypocrites, to be impudent against the truth, to condemn others, and justify themselves. 2
17-g.
Meaning of base condition as Chap. 9.21.
20-h.
He stands most impudently in his own defence both against God and his own conscience.
22-*.
Eccles. 34.18, Hos. 6.7, Mat. 9.13 and 12.7.
23-i.
God hates nothing more than the disobedience of his command- ment, though the intent seem never so good to man.
25-k.
This was not true repentance, but dissimulation, fearing the loss of his kingdom.
28-l.
That is, David.
29-m.
Meaning God, who maintains and prefers his.
32-^.
Or, in bonds.
32-n.
He suspected nothing less than death, or as some write, he passed not for death.
33-*.
Ex, 17.14, Num. 14.45. 1 Geneva Bible 1560
34-o.
Where his house was.
35-p.
Though Saul came where Samuel was, Ch. 19.22.
35-q.
As, verse 11.