1 Samuel 15

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Samuel said to Saul: "It was I the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel. Now, therefore, listen to the message of the LORD.	1 And Samuel said to Saul: “The Lord sent me, so that I would anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the voice of the Lord.
2 This is what the LORD of hosts has to say: 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel when he barred his way as he was coming up from Egypt.	2 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have taken account of all that Amalek has done to Israel, how he stood against him in the way, when he ascended from Egypt.
3 Go, now, attack Amalek, and deal with him and all that he has under the ban. Do not spare him, but kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.'"	3 Now therefore, go and strike Amalek, and demolish all that is his. You shall not spare him, and you shall not covet anything out of the things that are his. Instead, kill from man even to woman, and little ones as well as infants, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
4 Saul alerted the soldiers, and at Telaim reviewed two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.	4 And so, Saul instructed the people, and he numbered them like lambs: two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 Saul went to the city of Amalek, and after setting an ambush in the wadi,	5 And when Saul had arrived as far as the city of Amalek, he placed ambushes at the torrent.
6 warned the Kenites: "Come! Leave Amalek and withdraw, that I may not have to destroy you with them, for you were kind to the Israelites when they came up from Egypt." After the Kenites left,	6 And Saul said to the Kenite: “Go away, withdraw, and descend from Amalek. Otherwise, I will include you with him. For you showed mercy to all the sons of Israel, when they ascended from Egypt.” And so the Kenite withdrew from the midst of Amalek.
7 Saul routed Amalek from Havilah to the approaches of Shur, on the frontier of Egypt.	7 And Saul struck down Amalek, from Havilah even until you arrive at Shur, which is opposite the region of Egypt.
8 He took Agag, king of Amalek, alive, but on the rest of the people he put into effect the ban of destruction by the sword.	8 And he apprehended Agag, the king of Amalek, alive. But all the common people he put to death with the edge of the sword.
9 He and his troops spared Agag and the best of the fat sheep and oxen, and the lambs. They refused to carry out the doom on anything that was worthwhile, dooming only what was worthless and of no account.	9 And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flocks of sheep, and of the herds, and the garments, and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and they were not willing to destroy them. Yet truly, whatever was vile or worthless, these they demolished.
10 Then the LORD spoke to Samuel:	10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying
11 "I regret having made Saul king, for he has turned from me and has not kept my command." At this Samuel grew angry and cried out to the LORD all night.	11 “It displeases me that I have appointed Saul as king. For he has forsaken me, and he has not fulfilled the work of my words.” And Samuel was greatly saddened, and he cried out to the Lord, all night long
12 Early in the morning he went to meet Saul, but was informed that Saul had gone to Carmel, where he erected a trophy in his own honor, and that on his return he had passed on and gone down to Gilgal.	12 And when Samuel had risen while it was still dark, so that he might go to Saul in the morning, it was reported to Samuel that Saul had arrived at Carmel, and that he had erected for himself a triumphant arch. And, while returning, he had continued on and descended to Gilgal. Therefore, Samuel went to Saul. And Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord, from the best of the spoils, which he had brought from Amalek.
13 When Samuel came to him, Saul greeted him: "The LORD bless you! I have kept the command of the LORD."	13 And when Samuel had gone to Saul, Saul said to him: “You are the blessed of the Lord. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.”
14 But Samuel asked, "What, then, is the meaning of this bleating of sheep that comes to my ears, and the lowing of oxen that I hear?"	14 And Samuel said, “Then what is this voice of the flocks, which resounds in my ears, and of the herds, which I am hearing?”
15 Saul replied: "They were brought from Amalek. The men spared the best sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the LORD, your God; but we have carried out the ban on the rest."	15 And Saul said: “They have brought these from Amalek. For the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, so that they might be immolated to the Lord your God. Yet truly, the remainder we have slain.”
16 Samuel said to Saul: "Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Speak!" he replied.	16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Permit me, and I will reveal to you what the Lord has said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
17 Samuel then said: "Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king of Israel	17 And Samuel said: “Was it not when you were little in your own eyes that you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you as king over Israel.
18 and sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.'	18 And the Lord sent you on the way, and he said: ‘Go and put to death the sinners of Amalek. And you shall fight against them, even unto utter annihilation.’
19 Why then have you disobeyed the LORD? You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD."	19 Why then, did you not listen to the voice of the Lord? Instead, you turned to the spoils, and you did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
20 Saul answered Samuel: "I did indeed obey the LORD and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.	20 And Saul said to Samuel: “On the contrary, I did listen to the voice of the Lord, and I walked in the way along which the Lord sent me, and I led back Agag, the king of Amalek, and I put to death Amalek.
21 But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal."	21 But the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, as the first-fruits of those things that were slain, to immolate to the Lord their God at Gilgal.”
22 But Samuel said: "Does the LORD so delight in holocausts and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams.	22 And Samuel said: “Does the Lord want holocausts and victims, and not instead that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifice. And to heed is greater than to offer the fat of rams.
23 For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he, too, has rejected you as ruler."	23 Therefore, it is like the sin of paganism to rebel. And it is like the crime of idolatry to refuse to obey. For this reason, therefore, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has also rejected you from being king.”
24 Saul replied to Samuel: "I have sinned, for I have disobeyed the command of the LORD and your instructions. In my fear of the people, I did what they said.	24 And Saul said to Samuel: “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the word of the Lord, and your words, by fearing the people and obeying their voice.
25 Now forgive my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD."	25 But now, I beg you, to bear my sin, and to return with me, so that I may adore the Lord.”
26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, because you rejected the command of the LORD and the LORD rejects you as king of Israel."	26 And 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 to go, Saul seized a loose end of his mantle, and it tore off.	27 And Samuel turned away, so that he might depart. But Saul took hold of the edge of his cloak, and it tore.
28 So 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.	28 And Samuel said to him: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you this day. And he has delivered it to your neighbor, who is better than you are.
29 The Glory of Israel neither retracts nor repents, for he is not man that he should repent."	29 Moreover, the One who triumphs within Israel will not spare, and he will not be moved to repentance. For he is not a man, that he should repent.”
30 But he answered: "I have sinned, yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Return with me that I may worship the LORD your God."	30 Then he said: “I have sinned. But now, honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, so that I may adore the Lord your God.”
31 And so Samuel returned with him, and Saul worshiped the LORD.	31 Therefore, Samuel turned again after Saul. And Saul adored the Lord.
32 Afterward Samuel commanded, "Bring Agag, king of Amalek, to me." Agag came to him struggling and saying, "So it is bitter death!"	32 And Samuel said, “Bring near to me Agag, the king of Amalek.” And Agag, very fat and trembling, was presented to him. And Agag said, “Does bitter death separate in this manner?”
33 And Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." Then he cut Agag down before the LORD in Gilgal.	33 And Samuel said, “Just as your sword caused women to be without their children, so will your mother be without her children among women.” And Samuel cut him into pieces, before the Lord at Gilgal.
34 Samuel departed for Ramah, while Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.	34 Then Samuel went away to Ramah. But Saul ascended to his house at Gibeah.
35 Never again, as long as he lived, did Samuel see Saul. Yet he grieved over Saul, because the LORD regretted having made him king of Israel.	35 And Samuel did not see Saul any more, until the day of his death. Yet truly, Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord regretted that he had appointed him as king over Israel.