1 Samuel 15:1 - 17:58

1 Samuel 15:1-35 (NASB) 
¹ Then Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord.
² "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.
³ 'Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "
⁴ Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
⁵ Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.
⁶ Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
⁷ So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
⁸ He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
⁹ But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
¹⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
¹¹ "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
¹² Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal."
¹³ Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord."
¹⁴ But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"
¹⁵ Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed."
¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!"
¹⁷ Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel,
¹⁸ and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.'
¹⁹ "Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?"
²⁰ Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
²¹ "But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal."
²² Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
²³ "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king."
²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.
²⁵ "Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord."
²⁶ But 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."
²⁷ As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
²⁸ So Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.
²⁹ "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind."
³⁰ Then he said, "I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God."
³¹ So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
³² Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites." And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
³³ But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul.
³⁵ Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Samuel 16:1-23 (NASB) 
¹ Now the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons."
² But Samuel said, "How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.'
³ "You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you."
⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, "Do you come in peace?"
⁵ He said, "In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
⁶ When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him."
⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "The Lord has not chosen this one either."
⁹ Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "The Lord has not chosen this one either."
¹⁰ Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these."
¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are these all the children?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep." Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here."
¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he."
¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.
¹⁵ Saul's servants then said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you.
¹⁶ "Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well."
¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, "Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me."
¹⁸ Then one of the young men said, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him."
¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David who is with the flock."
²⁰ Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son.
²¹ Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.
²² Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight."
²³ So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

1 Samuel 17:1-58 (NASB)
¹ Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
² Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines.
³ The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.
⁴ Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.
⁶ He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.
⁷ The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him.
⁸ He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.
⁹ "If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us."
¹⁰ Again the Philistine said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together."
¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
¹² Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons. And Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.
¹³ The three older sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
¹⁴ David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul,
¹⁵ but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem.
¹⁶ The Philistine came forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.
¹⁷ Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers.
¹⁸ "Bring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back news of them.
¹⁹ "For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines."
²⁰ So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.
²¹ Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.
²² Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers.
²³ As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.
²⁴ When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.
²⁵ The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."
²⁶ Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"
²⁷ The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, "Thus it will be done for the man who kills him."
²⁸ Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger burned against David and he said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle."
²⁹ But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a question?"
³⁰ Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as before.
³¹ When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him.
³² David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
³³ Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth."
³⁴ But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
³⁵ I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
³⁶ "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God."
³⁷ And David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the Lord be with you."
³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor.
³⁹ David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." And David took them off.
⁴⁰ He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.
⁴¹ Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.
⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.
⁴³ The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."
⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
⁴⁶ "This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands."
⁴⁸ Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
⁴⁹ And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.
⁵⁰ Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David's hand.
⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
⁵² The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the slain Philistines lay along the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron.
⁵³ The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.
⁵⁴ Then David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.
⁵⁵ Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" And Abner said, "By your life, O king, I do not know."
⁵⁶ The king said, "You inquire whose son the youth is."
⁵⁷ So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand.
⁵⁸ Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."