Day 102, 11 April 2024

1) 1 Samuel 15, 1 Samuel 16, 1 Samuel 17
1 SAMUEL 15

The Lord Rejects Saul

1 (1Sa 9:16; 10:1) Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you to be
king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of
the words of the Lord.
2 (Dt 25:17-19; Ex 17:8-16) Thus says the Lord of Hosts,
'I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way,
when he came up from Egypt.
3 (Nu 24:20; Dt 20:16-18) Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy
all that they have, and do not have compassion on them but put to death
both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "
4 (Jos 15:24) So Saul summoned the people together, and numbered them
in Telaim, 200000 foot soldiers and 10000 men of Judah.
5 Then Saul came to the city of Amalek and laid an ambush in the valley.
6 (Jdg 1:16; Ex 18:19) Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from
among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness
to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites
departed from among the Amalekites.
7 (Ge 16:7; 25:18) Then Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah
until you come to Shur, which is near Egypt.
8 (1Sa 30:1; Nu 24:7) He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive
and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 (1Sa 15:15; 15:3) But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best
of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, and lambs. And of all that was good, they were
not willing to utterly destroy them. But everything that was despised
and weak, that they completely destroyed.
10 Then came the word of the Lord to Samuel, saying,
11 (Ge 6:6; 1Sa 13:13) "I regret that I have set up Saul to be king because
he has turned back from following Me, and he has not carried out My words."
And it grieved Samuel, and he cried to the Lord all night.
12 (Jos 15:55; 1Sa 25:2) When Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning,
it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel and set himself up
a monument. Then he turned and has passed on down to Gilgal."
13 (Ge 14:19; Jdg 17:2) Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him,
"Blessed are you of the Lord. I have carried out the word of the Lord."
14 Samuel said, "Then what is the sound of this flock of sheep in my ears?
And the sound of the cattle which I am hearing?"
15 (1Sa 15:9; 15:21) And Saul said, "They have brought them from
the Amalekites. For the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen,
to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed."
16 Then Samuel said to Saul,
"Stop, and I will tell you what the Lord spoke to me this night."
And he said to him, "Speak."
17 (1Sa 9:21; 10:22) Samuel said, "When you were little in your own sight,
were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed
you king over Israel?
18 And the Lord sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy
the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are destroyed.'
19 (1Sa 14:32) Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? And why
did you rush upon the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord?"
20 (1Sa 15:13) And Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of the Lord.
And I have followed in the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought
Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 (1Sa 15:15; Ex 32:22-23) But the people took from the plunder sheep
and oxen, the first fruits of the banned things to sacrifice
to the Lord your God in Gilgal."
22 (Hos 6:6; Jer 7:22-23; Mic 6:6-8) Samuel said,
"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
a listening ear than the fat of rams.
23 (1Sa 13:14 ) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has also rejected you from being king."
24 (2Sa 12:13; Pr 29:25) Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. For
I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and your words,
because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 (Ex 10:17) Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me,
that I may worship the Lord."
26 (1Sa 13:14; 16:1) Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you.
For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected
you from being king over Israel."
27 As Samuel turned about to go, he seized the edge of his robe and it tore.
28 (1Sa 28:17-18) Samuel said to him, "The Lord 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 (Nu 23:19; Eze 24:14; Titus 1:2) Also the Strength of Israel will not
lie nor repent. For He is not a man, that He should repent."
30 (Jn 5:44; 12:43) Then he said, "I have sinned, yet please honor me
before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me,
that I may worship the Lord your God."
31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshipped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag the king of the Amalekites."
And Agag came to him reluctantly. But Agag said,
"Surely the bitterness of death is past."
33 (Jdg 1:7; Ge 9:6) Samuel said,
"As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women."
And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 (1Sa 11:4) Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up
to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 (1Sa 15:11; 16:1) Now Samuel did not see Saul up to the day of his death.
But Samuel mourned for Saul and the Lord regretted that he had made Saul
king over Israel.

1 Samuel 15
[1] 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.
[2] Thus 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.
[3] Now 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.
[4] And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two
hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
[5] And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
[6] And 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.
[7] And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur,
that is over against Egypt.
[8] And 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 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.
[10] Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
[11] It 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.
[12] And 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.
[13] And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the
LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
[14] And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine
ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
[15] And 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.
[16] Then 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.
[17] And 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?
[18] And 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.
[19] Wherefore 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?
[20] And 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.
[21] But 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.
[22] And 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.
[23] For 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.
[24] And 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.
[25] Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that
I may worship the LORD.
[26] And 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.
[27] And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of
his mantle, and it rent.
[28] And 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.
[29] And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not
a man, that he should repent.
[30] Then 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.
[31] So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.
[32] Then 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.
[33] And 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.
[34] Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of
Saul.
[35] And 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.