CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub]. Common English Bible

CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub]

The rest was placed under the ban."

¹⁶Samuel then said to Saul, "Enough! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night."

"Tell me," Saul replied.

¹⁷Samuel said, "Even if you think you are insignificant, aren't you the leader of Israel's tribes? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸The LORD sent you on a mission, instructing you, 'Go, and put the sinful Amalekites under the ban. Fight against them until you've wiped them out.'¹⁹Why didn't you obey the LORD? You did evil in the LORD's eyes when you tore into the plunder!"

²⁰"But I did obey the LORD!" Saul protested to Samuel. "I went on the mission the LORD sent me on. I captured Agag the Amalekite king, and I put the Amalekites under the ban. ²¹Yes, the troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder--the very best items placed under the ban--but in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

²²Then Samuel replied,

"Does the LORD want entirely burned offerings and sacrifices

as much as obedience to the LORD?

Listen to this: obeying is better than sacrificing,

paying attention is better than fat from rams,

²³because rebellion is as bad as the sin of divination;

arrogance is like the evil of idolatry.^s

Because you have rejected what the LORD said,

he has rejected you as king."

²⁴Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned because I disobeyed the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the troops and obeyed them. ²⁵But now please forgive my sin! Come back with me, so I can worship the LORD."

²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, "I can't^t return with you because you have rejected what the LORD said, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."

²⁷Samuel turned to leave, but Saul grabbed at the edge of his robe, and it ripped. ²⁸Then Samuel told him, "The LORD has ripped the kingdom of Israel from you today. He will give it to a friend of yours, someone who is more worthy than you. ²⁹What's more, the enduring one of Israel doesn't take back what he says and doesn't change his mind. He is not a human being who would change his mind."

³⁰"I have sinned," Saul said, "but please honor me in front of my people's elders and before Israel, and come back with me so I can worship the LORD your God."³¹So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshipped the LORD.

³²"Bring me Agag the Amalekite king," Samuel said.

Agag came to him in chains, asking, "Would death have been as bitter as this is?"^u

³³Samuel said, "Just as your sword left women without their children, now your mother will be childless among women." Then Samuel cut Agag to pieces in the LORD's presence at Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah. ³⁵Samuel never saw Saul again before he died, but he grieved over Saul. However, the LORD regretted making Saul king over Israel.

Samuel anoints David

1Samuel 16The LORD said to Samuel, "How long are you going to grieve over Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and get going. I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have found^v my next king among his sons."

²"How can I do that?" Samuel asked. "When Saul hears of it he'll kill me!"

"Take a heifer with you," the LORD replied, "and say, 'I have come to make a sacrifice to the LORD.'³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will make clear to you what you should do. You will anoint for me the person I point out to you."

⁴Samuel did what the LORD instructed. When he came to Bethlehem, the city elders came to meet him. They were shaking with fear. "Do you come in peace?" they asked.

⁵"Yes," Samuel answered. "I've come to make a sacrifice to the LORD. Now make yourselves holy, then come with me to the sacrifice." Samuel made Jesse and his sons holy and invited them to the sacrifice as well.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, That must be the LORD's anointed right in front.

⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, "Have no regard for his appearance or stature, because I haven't selected him. God^w doesn't look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the LORD sees into the heart."

⁸Next Jesse called for Abinadab, who presented himself to Samuel, but he said, "The LORD hasn't chosen this one either."⁹So Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, "No, the LORD hasn't chosen this one."¹⁰Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD hasn't picked any of these."¹¹Then Samuel asked Jesse, "Is that all of your boys?"

"There is still the youngest one," Jesse answered, "but he's out keeping the sheep."

"Send for him," Samuel told Jesse, "because we can't proceed until he gets here."^x

¹²So Jesse sent and brought him in. He was reddish brown, had beautiful eyes, and was good-looking. The LORD said, "That's the one. Go anoint him."¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him right there in front of his brothers. The LORD's spirit came over David from that point forward.

Then Samuel left and went to Ramah.

David is introduced to Saul

¹⁴Now the LORD's spirit had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. ¹⁵Saul's servants said to him, "Look, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶If our master just says the word, your servants will search for someone who knows how to play the lyre. The musician can play whenever the evil spirit from God is affecting you, and then you'll feel better."

¹⁷Saul said to his servants, "Find me a good musician and bring him to me."

¹⁸One of the servants responded, "I know that one of Jesse's sons from Bethlehem is a good musician. He's a strong man and heroic, a warrior who speaks well and is good-looking too. The LORD is with him."

¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, "Send me your son David, the one who keeps the sheep."

²⁰Jesse then took a donkey and loaded it with a homer of bread,^y a jar of wine, and a young goat, and he sent it along with his son David to Saul. ²¹That is how David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked David very much,^z and David became his armor-bearer. ²²Saul sent a message to Jesse: "Please allow David to remain in my service because I am pleased with him."²³Whenever the evil spirit from God affected Saul, David would take the lyre and play it. Then Saul would relax and feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him alone.

David defeats Goliath

1Samuel 17The Philistines assembled their troops for war at Socoh of Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. ²Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Elah Valley, where they got organized to fight the Philistines. ³The Philistines took positions on one hill while Israel took positions on the opposite hill. There was a valley between them.

⁴A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was more than nine feet tall.^a ⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore bronze scale-armor weighing one hundred twenty-five pounds.^b ⁶He had bronze plates on his shins, and a bronze scimitar hung on his back. ⁷His spear shaft^c was as strong as the bar on a weaver's loom, and its iron head weighed fifteen pounds.^d His shield-bearer walked in front

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