rsv 1Samuel:15:8-33 SEEK
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And he took Agag the king of the Amal '
ekites alive ,
and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword .
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But Saul and the people spared Agag ,
and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings ,
and the lambs ,
and all that was good ,
and would not utterly destroy them ;
all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed .
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The word of the LORD came to Samuel :
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I repent that I have made Saul king ;
for he has turned back from following me ,
and has not performed my commandments ."
And Samuel was angry ;
and he cried to the LORD all night .
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And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning ;
and it was told Samuel , "
Saul came to Carmel ,
and behold ,
he set up a monument for himself and turned ,
and passed on ,
and went down to Gilgal ."
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And Samuel came to Saul ,
and Saul said to him , "
Blessed be you to the LORD ;
I have performed the commandment of the LORD ."
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And Samuel said , "
What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears ,
and the lowing of the oxen which I hear ?"
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Saul said , "
They have brought them from the Amal '
ekites ;
for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen ,
to sacrifice to the LORD your God ;
and the rest we have utterly destroyed ."
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Then Samuel said to Saul , "
Stop !
I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night ."
And he said to him , "
Say on ."
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And Samuel said , "
Though you are little in your own eyes ,
are you not the head of the tribes of Israel ?
The LORD anointed you king over Israel .
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And the LORD sent you on a mission ,
and said , `
Go ,
utterly destroy the sinners ,
the Amal '
ekites ,
and fight against them until they are consumed .'
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Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD ?
Why did you swoop on the spoil ,
and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD ?"
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And Saul said to Samuel , "
I have obeyed the voice of the LORD ,
I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me ,
I have brought Agag the king of Am '
alek ,
and I have utterly destroyed the Amal '
ekites .
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But the people took of the spoil ,
sheep and oxen ,
the best of the things devoted to destruction ,
to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal ."
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And Samuel said , "
Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices ,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
Behold ,
to obey is better than sacrifice ,
and to hearken than the fat of rams .
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For rebellion is as the sin of divination ,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry .
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD ,
he has also rejected you from being king ."
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And Saul said to Samuel , "
I have sinned ;
for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words ,
because I feared the people and obeyed their voice .
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Now therefore ,
I pray ,
pardon my sin ,
and return with me ,
that I may worship the LORD ."
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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 ."
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As Samuel turned to go away ,
Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his robe ,
and it tore .
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And 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 .
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And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or repent ;
for he is not a man ,
that he should repent ."
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Then he said , "
I have sinned ;
yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel ,
and return with me ,
that I may worship the LORD your God ."
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So Samuel turned back after Saul ;
and Saul worshiped the LORD .
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Then Samuel said , "
Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amal '
ekites ."
And Agag came to him cheerfully .
Agag said , "
Surely the bitterness of death is past ."
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And Samuel said , "
As your sword has made women childless ,
so shall your mother be childless among women ."
And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal .