The Lord Rejects Saul as King
1Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. 2This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy15:3 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20 and 21. all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”
4So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. 5Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. 8He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves15:9 Or the grown bulls; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
10Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11“I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.
12Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
13When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
14But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
16“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
17Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”
20“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. 25Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”
26But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”
27As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. 29He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”
30Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”
Agag came to him in chains.15:32 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. And he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33But Samuel said,
“As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women.”
And Samuel put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.
34Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Yehova Akana Sauli Kukhala Mfumu
1Samueli anawuza Sauli kuti, “Yehova anandituma ine kuti ndikudzozeni kukhala mfumu ya anthu ake, Aisraeli. Tsopano imvani zimene Yehova akunena. 2Yehova Wamphamvuzonse akuti, ‘Ine ndidzalanga Aamaleki chifukwa cha zimene anawachita Aisraeli. Paja iwo analimbana ndi Aisraeli pa njira pamene Aisraeliwo ankachoka ku Igupto. 3Tsopano pita kathire nkhondo Aamaleki ndi kuwononga kwathunthu zinthu zonse zimene ali nazo. Musakasiyeko munthu ndi mmodzi yemwe. Mukaphe amuna ndi akazi, ana ndi makanda, ngʼombe ndi nkhosa, ngamira ndi abulu.’ ”
4Kotero Sauli anayitana ankhondo ake nawawerenga ku Telaimu. Ankhondo oyenda pansi analipo 200,000 ndipo mwa iwowa 10,000 anali a fuko la Yuda. 5Sauli anapita ku mzinda wa Aamaleki nawubisalira mʼkhwawa. 6Tsono Sauli anawuza Akeni kuti, “Samukani, muchoke pakati pa Aamaleki kuti ine ndisakuwonongeni pamodzi ndi iwo pakuti inu munaonetsa kukoma mtima kwa Aisraeli onse pamene ankatuluka mʼdziko la Igupto,” Choncho Akeni anachoka pakati pa Aamaleki.
7Tsono Sauli anakantha Aamaleki kuchokera ku Havila mpaka ku Suri, kummawa kwa Igupto. 8Sauli anatenga Agagi mfumu ya Aamaleki, koma anthu ake onse anawapha ndi lupanga. 9Koma Sauli ndi ankhondo ake sanaphe Agagi, sanaphenso nkhosa ndi ngʼombe zabwino ngakhalenso ana angʼombe ndi ana ankhosa onenepa. Chilichonse chimene chinali chabwino sanachiphe. Koma zonse zimene zinali zoyipa ndi zachabechabe anaziwononga.
10Kenaka Yehova anawuza Samueli kuti, 11“Ine ndikumva chisoni chifukwa ndinayika Sauli kukhala mfumu. Wabwerera mʼmbuyo, waleka kunditsata ndipo sanamvere malangizo anga.” Samueli anapsa mtima, ndipo analira kwa Yehova usiku wonse.
12Samueli anadzuka mmamawa ndipo anapita kukakumana ndi Sauli. Koma anthu anamuwuza kuti, “Sauli anabwera ku Karimeli, ndipo kumeneko wadziyimikira mwala wachikumbutso cha iye mwini. Tsopano wachokako ndipo wapita ku Giligala.”
13Samueli atamupeza Sauli, Sauliyo anati kwa Samueli, “Yehova akudalitseni! Ndachita zonse zimene Yehova analamula.”
14Koma Samueli anati, “Nanga bwanji ndikumva kulira kwa nkhosa ndi ngʼombe?”
15Sauli anayankha, “Zimenezi Asilikali azitenga kuchokera kwa Aamaleki. Iwo anasungako nkhosa ndi ngʼombe zabwino kuti akapereke nsembe kwa Yehova Mulungu wanu, koma zina zonse anaziwononga.”
16Koma Samueli anati kwa Sauli, “Khala chete! Ima ndikuwuze zimene Yehova wandiwuza usiku wathawu.”
Sauli anayankha kuti, “Ndiwuzeni.”
17Apo Samueli anati, “Munali wamngʼono pa maso pa anthu, koma tsopano mwasanduka mtsogoleri wa mafuko a Israeli. Yehova anakudzozani kuti mukhale mfumu yolamulira Aisraeli. 18Ndipo Yehova anakutumani kuti, ‘Pitani mukawononge kwathunthu Aamaleki, anthu oyipa aja. Mukachite nawo nkhondo mpaka kuwatheratu.’ 19Chifukwa chiyani simunamvere mawu a Yehova? Chifukwa chiyani munathamangira zofunkha ndi kuchita choyipira Yehova?”
20Koma Saulo anawuza Samueli kuti, “Ine ndinamveradi mawu a Yehova. Ndinapita kukachita zimene Yehova anandituma. Ndinabwera naye Agagi, mfumu ya Amaleki, koma Aamaleki ena onse anaphedwa. 21Koma pa zofunkhazo anthu anatengapo nkhosa, ngʼombe ndi zabwino zina zoyenera kuwonongedwa kuti akapereke ngati nsembe kwa Yehova Mulungu wanu ku Giligala.”
22Koma Samueli anayankha kuti,
“Kodi Yehova amakondwera ndi nsembe zopsereza ndi nsembe zina
kapena kumvera mawu a ake?
Taona, kumvera ndi kwabwino kuposa nsembe,
ndipo kutchera khutu ndi kwabwino kuposa kupereka mafuta a nkhosa.
23Pakuti kuwukira kuli ngati tchimo lowombeza,
ndipo kukhala nkhutukumve kuli ngati tchimo lopembedza mafano.
Chifukwa mwakana mawu a Yehova.
Iyenso wakukana kuti iweyo ukhale mfumu.”
24Tsono Sauli anati kwa Samueli, “Ine ndachimwa. Ndaphwanya malamulo a Yehova ndiponso malangizo anu. Ndinkaopa anthu ndipo ndinawamvera. 25Tsopano ndikukupemphani, khululukireni tchimo langa ndipo mubwerere nane kuti ndikapembedze Yehova.”
26Koma Samueli anawuza Sauli kuti, “Ine sindibwerera nawe. Inu mwakana mawu a Yehova. Choncho Iyenso wakukanani kuti musakhale mfumu yolamulira Aisraeli.”
27Samueli akutembenuka kuti azipita, Sauli anagwira mpendero wa mkanjo wake, ndipo unangʼambika. 28Samueli anati kwa iye, “Yehova wangʼamba ufumu wanu kuchoka kwa inu, ndipo waupereka kwa mnzanu woposa inu. 29Mulungu wa ulemerero wa Israeli sanama kapena kusintha maganizo ake; pakuti iye si munthu, kuti asinthe maganizo ake.”
30Sauli anati, “Ine ndachimwa. Komabe, chonde mundilemekeze pamaso pa akuluakulu, anthu anga, ndiponso pamaso pa Israeli. Mubwerere nane kuti ndikapembedze Yehova Mulungu wanu.” 31Pamenepo Samueli anabwerera ndi Sauli, ndipo Sauli anapembedza Yehova.
32Kenaka Samueli anati, “Bwera nayeni kuno Agagi, mfumu ya Amaleki ija.”
Choncho Agagi anapita kwa Samueli mokondwa chifukwa ankaganiza kuti, “Ndithu zowawa za imfa zapita.”
33Koma Samueli anati,
“Monga momwe lupanga lako linasandutsira amayi kukhala wopanda ana,
momwemonso amayi ako adzakhala opanda mwana pakati pa amayi.”
Ndipo Samueli anapha Agagi pamaso pa Yehova ku Giligala.
34Ndipo Samueli anapita ku Rama, koma Sauli anapita ku mudzi kwawo ku Gibeya wa Sauli. 35Samueli sanamuonenso Sauli mpaka imfa yake ngakhale kuti ankamulira Sauliyo. Yehova anamva chisoni kuti anasankha Sauli kuti akhale mfumu ya Israeli.
