Saul’s Disobedience 1 UDB One day Samuel said to Saul, "Yahweh sent me to appoint you to be the king of the Israelite people. So now listen to this message from Yahweh: BSB BSB: Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
2 UDB Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, has declared this: 'I am going to punish the descendants of Amalek for attacking the Israelite people after the Israelites left Egypt. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them on their way up from Egypt.
3 UDB So now go with your army and attack the Amalek people. Destroy them completely—destroy them and everything that belongs to them—the men and women, their children and infants, their cattle and sheep and camels and donkeys. Do not spare any of them!'" BSB BSB: Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
4 UDB So Saul summoned the army, and they gathered at Telaim town. There were 200,000 soldiers. Ten thousand of them were from Judah, and the others were from the other Israelite tribes. BSB BSB: So Saul summoned the troops and numbered them at Telaim—200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
5 UDB Then Saul went with his army to a town where some of the Amalek people lived. The army prepared to attack them suddenly by hiding in the valley. BSB BSB: Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.
6 UDB Then Saul sent this message to the Kenite people who lived in that area: "You acted kindly toward all of our Israelite ancestors when they left Egypt. But we are going to kill all of the Amalek people because they opposed our ancestors. So move away from where the Amalek people live. If you do not move away, you will be killed when they are killed." So when the Kenite people heard that, they immediately left that area. BSB BSB: And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7 UDB Then Saul's army slaughtered the Amalek people, from the town of Havilah in the east to the town of Shur in the west. Shur was at the border between Israel and Egypt. BSB BSB: Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8 UDB Saul's army captured Agag, the king of the Amalek people, but they killed everyone else. BSB BSB: He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.
9 UDB They not only spared Agag, but they also took the best sheep and goats and cattle. They took everything that was good. They destroyed only the animals that they considered to be worthless. BSB BSB: Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to devote them to destruction, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.
Samuel Denounces Saul 10 UDB Then Yahweh said to Samuel, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,
11 UDB "I am sorry that I appointed Saul to be your king because he has stopped worshiping me. He has not obeyed what I commanded him to do." Samuel was very disturbed when he heard that, and he cried out to Yahweh all that night. BSB BSB: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.
12 UDB Early the next morning, Samuel got up and went to talk with Saul. But someone told Samuel, "Saul went to the city of Carmel, where he has set up a monument to honor himself. Now he has left there and gone down to Gilgal." BSB BSB: Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”
13 UDB When Samuel arrived at Gilgal and came to Saul, Saul said, "I wish that Yahweh may bless you! I have obeyed what Yahweh told me to do." BSB BSB: When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
14 UDB But Samuel replied, "If that is true, why is it that I hear cattle mooing and I hear sheep bleating?" BSB BSB: But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15 UDB Saul replied, "The soldiers took them from the Amalek people. They saved the best sheep and cattle in order to offer them as sacrifices to Yahweh your God. But we have completely destroyed all the others." BSB BSB: Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.”
16 UDB Samuel said to Saul, "Stop talking! Allow me to tell you what Yahweh said to me last night." Saul replied, "Tell me what he said." BSB BSB: “Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.
17 UDB Samuel said, "Previously you did not think that you were important. But now you have become the leader of the tribes of Israel. Yahweh appointed you to be their king. BSB BSB: And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel
18 UDB And Yahweh sent you to do something for him. He said to you, 'Go and get rid of all those sinful people, the Amalek people. Attack them and kill all of them.' BSB BSB: and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’
19 UDB So why did you not obey Yahweh? Why did you take the plunder for yourself instead of destroying it? You have done what Yahweh says is evil, and he knows it!" BSB BSB: So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
20 UDB Saul replied to Samuel, "I did what Yahweh sent me to do! I brought back King Agag, but we killed everyone else! BSB BSB: “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
21 UDB My men brought back only the best sheep and cattle and other things, in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God here at Gilgal." BSB BSB: The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
22 UDB But Samuel replied, "Which do you think pleases Yahweh more, animals that are completely burned on the altar and other sacrifices, or people obeying him? It is better to obey Yahweh than to offer sacrifices to him. It is better to pay attention to what he says than to burn the fat of rams, which God said should be sacrificed to him. BSB BSB: But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
23 UDB To rebel against God is as sinful as doing sorcery, and being stubborn is as sinful as worshiping idols. So, because you disobeyed what Yahweh told you to do, he has declared that you will no longer be king." BSB BSB: For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
Saul’s Confession 24 UDB Then Saul said to Samuel, "Yes, I have sinned. I disobeyed what you told me to do, which is what Yahweh commanded. I did that because I was afraid of what my men would say if I did not do what they wanted. So I did what they demanded. BSB BSB: Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
25 UDB But now, please forgive me for having sinned. And come back with me to where the people are so that I may worship Yahweh." BSB BSB: Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.”
26 UDB But Samuel replied, "No, I will not go back with you. You have rejected what Yahweh commanded you to do. So he has rejected you and declared that you will no longer be the king of Israel. So I do not want to talk anymore with you, either." BSB BSB: “I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.”
27 UDB As Samuel turned to leave, Saul tried to stop him by grabbing the edge of Samuel's robe, and it tore. BSB BSB: As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore.
28 UDB Samuel said to him, "Today Yahweh has torn away from you the kingdom of Israel. He will appoint someone else to be king, someone who is a better man than you are. BSB BSB: So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
29 UDB And since the one who is the glorious God of the Israelite people does not lie, he will not change his mind. Humans sometimes change their minds, but God does not do that, because he is not a human." BSB BSB: Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
30 UDB Then Saul pleaded again. He said, "I know that I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the leaders of the Israelite people and in front of all the other Israelite people by coming back to them with me so that I may worship Yahweh your God." BSB BSB: “I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
31 UDB So Samuel finally agreed to do that, and they went together back to where the people were, and Saul worshiped Yahweh there. BSB BSB: So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
32 UDB Then Samuel said, "Bring King Agag to me." So they brought Agag to him. Agag was brought before him, and he was locked in chains. He thought, "Surely the bitterness of death is past!" BSB BSB: Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33 UDB But Samuel said to him, "You have killed the sons of many women with your sword, so now your mother will no longer have a son." And Samuel cut Agag into pieces with his sword, there at Gilgal where the Israelites worshiped Yahweh. BSB BSB: But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
34 UDB Then Samuel left there and returned to his home in Ramah, and Saul went to his home in Gibeah. BSB BSB: Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
35 UDB Samuel never saw Saul again, but he was very sad about what Saul had done. And Yahweh was very sorry that he had appointed Saul to be the king of Israel. BSB BSB: And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
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