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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 15 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Saul Destroys the Amalekites

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:1 - One day Samuel said to Saul, “It was the LORD who told me to anoint you as king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the LORD!

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:2 - This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:3 - Now go and completely destroy[fn] the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:4 - So Saul mobilized his army at Telaim. There were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 men from Judah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:5 - Then Saul and his army went to a town of the Amalekites and lay in wait in the valley.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:6 - Saul sent this warning to the Kenites: “Move away from where the Amalekites live, or you will die with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites packed up and left.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:7 - Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:8 - He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:9 - Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality.
The LORD Rejects Saul

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:10 - Then the LORD said to Samuel,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:11 - “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the LORD all night.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:12 - Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, “Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:13 - When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the LORD bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the LORD’s command!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:14 - “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:15 - “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. We have destroyed everything else.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:16 - Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the LORD told me last night!”
“What did he tell you?” Saul asked.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:17 - And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD has anointed you king of Israel.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:18 - And the LORD sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:19 - Why haven’t you obeyed the LORD? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the LORD’s sight?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:20 - “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:21 - Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:22 - But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the LORD:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:23

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:23 - Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”
Saul Pleads for Forgiveness

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:24

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:24 - Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:25

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:25 - But now, please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship the LORD.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:26

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:26 - But Samuel replied, “I will not go back with you! Since you have rejected the LORD’s command, he has rejected you as king of Israel.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:27

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:27 - As Samuel turned to go, Saul tried to hold him back and tore the hem of his robe.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:28

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:28 - And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else—one who is better than you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:29

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:29 - And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:30 - Then Saul pleaded again, “I know I have sinned. But please, at least honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel by coming back with me so that I may worship the LORD your God.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:31

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:31 - So Samuel finally agreed and went back with him, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
Samuel Executes King Agag

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:32

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:32 - Then Samuel said, “Bring King Agag to me.” Agag arrived full of hope, for he thought, “Surely the worst is over, and I have been spared!”[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:33

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:33 - But Samuel said, “As your sword has killed the sons of many mothers, now your mother will be childless.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:34

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:34 - Then Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his house at Gibeah of Saul.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 15:35

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 15:35 - Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the LORD was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 15:8, 9, 15, 18, 20, 21.
Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version read Agag arrived hesitantly, for he thought, “Surely this is the bitterness of death.”
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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1 Samuel Chapter 15 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras