1 Samuel 15-16

Easy-to-Read Version

Saul Destroys the Amalekites

15 One day Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. Now listen to his message. ² The Lord All-Powerful says: ‘When the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Amalekites tried to stop them from going to Canaan. I saw what the Amalekites did. ³ Now go fight against the Amalekites. You must completely destroy the Amalekites and everything that belongs to them. Don’t let anything live; you must kill all the men and women and all of their children and little babies. You must kill all of their cattle and sheep and all of their camels and donkeys.’”

⁴ Saul gathered the army together at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 other men, including the men from Judah. ⁵ Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and waited in the valley. ⁶ He said to the Kenites, “Go away! Leave the Amalekites. Then I won’t destroy you with the Amalekites. You showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites.

⁷ Saul defeated the Amalekites. He fought them and chased them all the way from Havilah to Shur, at the border of Egypt. ⁸ Agag was the king of the Amalekites. Saul captured Agag alive. Saul let Agag live, but he killed all the men in Agag’s army. ⁹ Saul and the Israelite soldiers felt bad about destroying everything. So they let Agag live. They also kept the fat cattle, the best sheep, and the lambs. They kept everything that was worth keeping. They didn’t want to destroy those things. They destroyed only what was not worth keeping.

Samuel Tells Saul About His Sin

¹⁰ Then Samuel received this message from the Lord: ¹¹ “Saul has stopped following me, so I am sorry that I made him king. He is not doing what I tell him.” Samuel became angry and cried to the Lord all night.

¹² Samuel got up early the next morning and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, “Saul went to Carmel. He went there to set up a stone monument to honor himself. Then he left there and went down to Gilgal.”

So Samuel went to Saul. Saul had just offered the first part of the things he took from the Amalekites as a burnt offering to the Lord.^{[a] 13} When Samuel came near to Saul, Saul greeted him and said, “The Lord bless you! I have obeyed the Lord’s commands.”

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “Then what is that sound I hear? Why do I hear sheep and cattle?”

¹⁵ Saul said, “The soldiers took them from the Amalekites. They saved the best sheep and cattle to burn as sacrifices to the Lord your God. But we destroyed everything else.”

¹⁶ Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord told me last night.”

Saul answered, “Tell me what he said.”

¹⁷ Samuel said, “In the past you didn’t think that you were important, but the Lord chose you to be the king. So you became the leader of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ The Lord sent you on a special mission. He said, ‘Go and destroy all the Amalekites. They are evil people. Destroy them all! Fight them until they are completely finished.’ ¹⁹ So why didn’t you listen to the Lord? You did what the Lord said is wrong because you wanted to keep what you took in battle.”

²⁰ Saul said, “But I did obey the Lord! I went where the Lord sent me. I destroyed all the Amalekites. I brought back only one—their king Agag. ²¹ And the soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²² But Samuel answered, “Which pleases the Lord more: burnt offerings and sacrifices or obeying his commands? It is better to obey the Lord than to offer sacrifices to him. It is better to listen to him than to offer the fat from rams. ²³ Refusing to obey is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Being stubborn and doing what you want is like the sin of worshiping idols. You refused to obey the Lord’s command, so he now refuses to accept you as king.”

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I did not obey the Lord’s commands, and I did not do what you told me. I was afraid of the people, and I did what they said. ²⁵ Now I beg you, forgive me for doing this sin. Come back with me, so I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I won’t go back with you. You rejected the Lord’s command, and now the Lord rejects you as king of Israel.”

²⁷ When Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught Samuel’s robe. The robe tore. ²⁸ Samuel said to Saul, “In this same way the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given the kingdom to one of your friends, a man who is a better person than you. ²⁹ The one who lives forever, the God of Israel, does not lie and will not change his mind. He is not like a man who is always changing his mind.”

³⁰ Saul answered, “All right, I sinned! But please come back with me. Show me some respect in front of the leaders and the Israelites. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³² Samuel said, “Bring King Agag of the Amalekites to me.”

Agag came to Samuel. Agag was tied with chains and thought, “Surely he won’t kill me.”^[b]

³³ But Samuel said to Agag, “Your sword took babies from their mothers. So now, your mother will have no children.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel left and went to Ramah. And Saul went up to his home in Gibeah. ³⁵ After that Samuel never saw Saul again. Samuel was very sad for Saul. And the Lord was very sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.

Samuel Goes to Bethlehem

16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you feel sorry for Saul? I have rejected him as king of Israel. Fill your horn^[c] with oil and go to Bethlehem. I am sending you to Jesse who lives in Bethlehem, because I have chosen one of his sons to be the new king.”

² But Samuel said, “If I go, Saul will hear the news and try to kill me.”

The Lord said, “Go to Bethlehem. Take a young calf with you and tell them, ‘I have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice. Then I will show you what to do. You must anoint the person I show you.”

⁴ Samuel did what the Lord told him to do and went to Bethlehem. The elders of Bethlehem shook with fear. They met Samuel and asked, “Do you come in peace?”

⁵ Samuel answered, “Yes, I come in peace. I come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Prepare yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Samuel prepared Jesse and his sons. Then he invited them to come and share the sacrifice.

⁶ When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the man who the Lord has chosen.”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Eliab is tall and handsome, but don’t judge by things like that. God doesn’t look at what people see. People judge by what is on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. Eliab is not the right man.”

⁸ Then Jesse called his second son, Abinadab. Abinadab walked by Samuel. But Samuel said, “No, this is not the man who the Lord chose.”

⁹ Then Jesse told Shammah to walk by Samuel. But Samuel said, “No, the Lord did not choose this man, either.”

¹⁰ Jesse showed seven of his sons to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these men.”

¹¹ Then he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

Jesse answered, “No, I have another son—my youngest, but he is out taking care of the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him. Bring him here. We won’t sit down to eat until he arrives.”

¹² Jesse sent someone to get his youngest son. This son was a good-looking, healthy^[d] young man. He was very handsome.

The Lord said to Samuel, “Get up and anoint him. He is the one.”

¹³ Samuel took the horn with the oil in it, and poured the special oil on Jesse’s youngest son in front of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came on David with great power from that day on. Then Samuel went back home to Ramah.

An Evil Spirit Bothers Saul

¹⁴ The Lord’s Spirit left Saul. Then the Lord sent an evil spirit to Saul that caused him much trouble. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants said to him, “An evil spirit from God is bothering you. ¹⁶ Give us the command and we will look for someone who can play the harp. If the evil spirit from God comes on you, this person will play music for you. Then you will feel better.”

¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Find someone who plays music well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸ One of the servants said, “There is a man named Jesse living in Bethlehem. I saw Jesse’s son. He knows how to play the harp. He is also a brave man and fights well. He is smart and handsome, and the Lord is with him.”

¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse. They told Jesse, “You have a son named David. He takes care of your sheep. Send him to me.”

²⁰ So Jesse got some things as a gift for Saul. Jesse got a donkey, some bread and a leather bag full of wine, and a young goat. He gave them to David and sent him to Saul. ²¹ So David went to Saul and stood in front of him. Saul loved David very much. David became the helper who carried Saul’s weapons. ²² Saul sent a message to Jesse. “Let David stay and serve me. I like him very much.”

²³ Any time the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David would take his harp and play it. The evil spirit would leave Saul and he would begin to feel better.