1Samuel:15-16
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And Samuel said unto Saul ,
Me did the Lord send to anoint thee as king over his people ,
over Israel ;
and now hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord .
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Thus hath said the Lord of hosts ,
I remember what Amalek did to Israel ,
how he lay in wait for him on the way ,
when he came up from Egypt .
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Now go and smite
Amalek ,
and devote all that they have ,
and spare them not ;
but slay both man and woman ,
infant and suckling ,
ox and lamb ,
camel and ass .
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And Saul ordered the people to assemble ,
and he numbered them in Telaim ,
two hundred thousand men on foot ,
and ten thousand of the men of Judah .
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And Saul came to the city of
Amalek ,
and he fought in the valley .
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And Saul said unto the Kenites ,
Go ,
depart ,
get you down from the midst of the
Amalekites ,
lest I destroy you with them ;
whereas ye acted kindly with all the children of Israel ,
at their coming up out of Egypt .
And the Kenites departed from the midst of the
Amalekites .
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And Saul smote the
Amalekites from Chavilah until thou comest to Shur ,
that is before Egypt .
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And he caught Agag the king of the
Amalekites alive ,
and all the people he devoted to the edge of the sword .
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But Saul together with the people had pity on Agag ,
and on the best of the flocks ,
and of the oxen ,
and of the fatlings ,
and the fat lambs ,
and all that was good ,
and they would not destroy them ;
but all the cattle that was of little value and weak ,
that they destroyed .
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And the word of the Lord came unto Samuel ,
saying ,
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I repent that I have set up Saul as king ;
for he hath turned back from following me ,
and my word hath he not performed :
and it displeased Samuel ,
and he cried unto the Lord all the night .
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And Samuel rose up early to meet Saul in the morning ;
and it was told to Samuel ,
saying ,
Saul came to Carmel ,
and ,
behold ,
he set himself up a monument ,
and then went about ,
and passed on ,
and went down to Gilgal .
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And Samuel came to Saul ;
and Saul said unto him ,
Blessed be thou unto the Lord ,
I have performed the word of the Lord .
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And Samuel said ,
What is then this bleating of the flocks in my ears ,
and the lowing of the oxen which I hear ?
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And Saul said ,
From the
Amalekites have they brought them ;
because the people had pity on the best of the flocks and of the oxen ,
in order to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God ;
and the rest have we destroyed .
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And Samuel said unto Saul ,
Stay ,
and I will tell thee what the Lord said to me this night :
and he said unto him ,
Speak .
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And Samuel said ,
Is it not that ,
however little thou wast in thy own eyes ,
thou art the head of the tribes of Israel ?
and the Lord anointed thee as king over Israel ?
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And the Lord sent thee on a journey ,
and said ,
Go and destroy the sinners ,
the
Amalekites ,
and thou shalt fight against them until they be consumed .
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Wherefore then didst thou not hearken unto the voice of the Lord ,
and didst fly upon the spoil ,
and didst the evil in the eyes of the Lord ?
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And Saul said unto Samuel ,
Yea ,
I have fully hearkened unto the voice of the Lord ;
and I went on the way which the Lord had sent me ;
and I have brought Agag the king of
Amalek ;
and the
Amalekites have I destroyed .
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And the people took of the spoil ,
of the flocks and oxen ,
the chief of the devoted things ,
to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal .
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And Samuel said ,
Hath the Lord as much delight in burnt
offerings and in sacrifices ,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord ?
Behold ,
to obey is better than sacrifice ,
and to attend more than the fat of the rams .
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For the sin of witchcraft is rebellion ,
and idolatry and image
worship ,
stubbornness ;
inasmuch as thou hast despised the word of the Lord ,
he hath also despised thee that thou shalt not be king .
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And Saul said unto Samuel ,
I have sinned ;
for I have transgressed the will of the Lord ,
and thy words ;
because I feared the people ,
and I hearkened to their voice .
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And now ,
I pray thee ,
pardon my sin ,
and return with me ,
that I may prostrate myself to the Lord .
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And Samuel said unto Saul ,
I will not return with thee ;
for thou didst despise the word of the Lord ,
and the Lord hath despised thee ,
that thou shalt not be king over Israel .
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And Samuel turned about to go :
and he laid hold on the corner of his mantle ,
and it was rent .
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And Samuel said unto him ,
The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from off thee this day ,
and hath given it to thy associate ,
who is better than thou .
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And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent ;
for he is not a man ,
that he should repent .
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And he said ,
I have sinned ;
honor me now ,
I pray thee ,
in the presence of the elders of my people ,
and in the presence of Israel ,
and return with me ,
that I may prostrate myself unto the Lord thy God .
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So Samuel returned ,
following Saul ;
and Saul prostrated himself to the Lord .
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And Samuel said ,
Bring ye hither unto me Agag the king of the
Amalekites :
and Agag came unto him cheerfully ;
and Agag said ,
Surely the bitterness of death is past .
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And Samuel said ,
As thy sword did make women childless ,
so shall thy mother be childless among women ;
and Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal .
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Then Samuel went to Ramah ;
and Saul went up to his house at Gib
ah of Saul .
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And Samuel did not see Saul any more until the day of his death ;
because Samuel mourned for Saul ;
and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel .
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And the Lord said unto Samuel ,
How long wilt thou mourn for Saul ,
seeing I have rejected him so as not to reign over Israel ?
fill thy horn with oil ,
and go ,
I will send thee to Jesse the Beth
lechemite ;
for I have selected among his sons unto myself a king .
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And Samuel said ,
How shall I go ?
if Saul should hear it ,
he would kill me .
And the Lord said ,
Take a heifer with thee ,
and say ,
To sacrifice unto the Lord am I come .
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And invite Jesse to the sacrifice ,
and I will let thee know what thou shalt do ;
and thou shalt anoint unto me the one whom I will say unto thee .
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And Samuel did that which the Lord had spoken ,
and came to Beth
lechem .
And the elders of the town came hastily to meet him ,
and said ,
Peace to thee at thy coming .
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And he said ,
Peace :
to sacrifice unto the Lord am I come ;
sanctify yourselves ,
and come with me to the sacrifice .
And he sanctified Jesse and his sons ,
and invited them to the sacrifice .
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And it came to pass ,
when they came ,
that he saw Eliab ,
and said ,
Surely the Lord
s anointed is before him .
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But the Lord said unto Samuel ,
Regard not his appearance ,
nor the height of his stature ;
because I have rejected him ;
for not what man looketh on ;
for man looketh on the eyes ,
but the Lord looketh on the heart .
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Then Jesse called Abinadab ,
and caused him to pass before Samuel .
And he said ,
This one also hath the Lord not chosen .
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Then Jesse caused Shammah to pass by .
And he said ,
This one also hath the Lord not chosen .
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And Jesse caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel :
and Samuel said unto Jesse ,
The Lord hath not made choice of these .
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And Samuel said unto Jesse ,
Are there not more young men ?
And he said ,
There is yet left behind the youngest ,
and ,
behold ,
he is feeding the flocks .
And Samuel said unto Jesse ,
Send and fetch him ;
for we will not sit down till he have come hither .
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And he sent ,
and brought him in .
Now he was ruddy ,
having withal handsome eyes ,
and being of a goodly appearance .
And the Lord said ,
Arise ,
anoint him ;
for this is he .
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Then took Samuel the horn of oil ,
and anointed him from among his brothers ;
and the Spirit of the Lord came suddenly upon David from that day and forward .
And Samuel then rose up ,
and went to Ramah .
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And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul ,
and there troubled him an evil spirit from the Lord .
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And Saul
s servants said unto him ,
Behold now ,
an evil spirit from God troubleth thee .
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Let our Lord but say ,
and thy servants ,
now before thee ,
will seek out a man ,
who is skilful as a player on the harp ;
and it shall come to pass ,
when the evil spirit from God is upon thee ,
that he shall play with his hand ,
that thou mayest be well .
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And Saul said unto his servants ,
Select for me ,
I pray you ,
a man that can play well ,
and bring him to me .
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Then answered one of the servants ,
and said ,
Behold ,
I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth
lechemite ,
who is skilful as a player ,
and a mighty valiant man ,
and a man of war ,
and intelligent in speech ,
and a person of a good form ,
and the Lord is with him .
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Thereupon Saul sent messengers unto Jesse ,
and said ,
Send me David thy son ,
who is with the flocks .
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And Jesse took an ass laden with bread ,
and a bottle of wine ,
and a kid ,
and sent them through David his son unto Saul .
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And David came to Saul ,
and stood before him ;
and he loved him greatly ,
and he became his armor
bearer .
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And Saul sent to Jesse ,
saying ,
Let David ,
I pray thee ,
stand before me ;
for he hath found favor in my eyes .
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And it came to pass ,
when the spirit of God was upon Saul ,
that David took the harp ,
and played with his hand ;
so Saul became relieved ,
and he felt well ,
and the evil spirit departed from him .
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And the Philistines gathered together their camps to battle ,
and they gathered themselves together at Sochoh ,
which belongeth to Judah ;
and they encamped between Sochoh and
Azekah ,
at Ephess
dammim .