Mar 20 - 1 Samuel 15-17
1 Samuel
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 destroy everything 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 men 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, to the east 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 calves 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 am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, 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"Stop!" 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; make war on 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 voice of 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 people 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 man, 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 confidently, thinking, "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 was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
1The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."2But Samuel said, "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me." The LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate."4Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?"5Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.6When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."7But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."8Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either."9Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the LORD chosen this one."10Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these."11So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."12So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."13So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.14Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.15Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.16Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better."17So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."18One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."19Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep."20So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.21David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers.22Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him."23Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
1Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.2Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.3The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.4A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.5He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels;6on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.7His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.8Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.9If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."10Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."11On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years.13Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.14David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,15but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem.16For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.17Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.18Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.19They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."20Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.21Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.22David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers.23As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.24When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.25Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel."26David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"27They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."28When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."29"Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?"30He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.31What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.32David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."33Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."34But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,35I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.37The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.39David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.40Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.41Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.42He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him.43He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.44"Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"45David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.46This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.47All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."48As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.49Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.50So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.51David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.52Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.53When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.54David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.55As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?" Abner replied, "As surely as you live, O king, I don't know."56The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."57As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.58"Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him. David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."