1 Samuel 15:13

THE MESSAGE

As Samuel came close, Saul called out, " God 's blessings on you! I accomplished God 's plan to the letter!"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When Samuel came to him, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you. I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

Hebrew Names Version
Shemu'el came to Sha'ul; and Sha'ul said to him, Blessed are you by the LORD: I have performed the mitzvah of the LORD.

King James Version
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord : I have performed the commandment of the Lord .

Lexham English Bible
When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, "May you be blessed by Yahweh! I have kept the word of Yahweh."

English Standard Version
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed be you to the Lord . I have performed the commandment of the Lord ."

New Century Version
When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said, "May the Lord bless you! I have obeyed the Lord 's commands."

New English Translation
When Samuel came to him, Saul said to him, "May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said."

Amplified Bible
So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD. I have carried out the command of the LORD."

New American Standard Bible
So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said vnto him. Blessed be thou of the Lord, I haue fulfilled the commaundement of the Lord.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of Yahweh! I have established the word of Yahweh."

Contemporary English Version
Samuel finally caught up with Saul, and Saul told him, "I hope the Lord will bless you! I have done what the Lord told me."

Complete Jewish Bible
Sh'mu'el went to Sha'ul; Sha'ul said to him, "May Adonai bless you! I have done what Adonai ordered."

Darby Translation
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed art thou of Jehovah: I have fulfilled the word of Jehovah.

Easy-to-Read Version
When Samuel came near to Saul, Saul greeted him and said, "The Lord bless you! I have obeyed the Lord 's commands."

George Lamsa Translation
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed be the LORD, who has performed his commandment.

Good News Translation
Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, "The Lord bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the Lord 's command."

Literal Translation
And Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, Blessed are you of Jehovah. I have risen to do the Word of Jehovah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now wha Samuel came to Saul, Saul sayde vnto him: Blessed be thou vnto ye LORDE, I haue perfourmed the worde of ye LORDE.

American Standard Version
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of Jehovah: I have performed the commandment of Jehovah.

Bible in Basic English
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, May the blessing of the Lord be with you: I have done what was ordered by the Lord.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Samuel came to Saul, & Saul said vnto him, Blessed be thou in the Lorde: I haue fulfilled the comaundement of the Lord.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him: 'Blessed be thou of the LORD; I have performed the commandment of the LORD.'

King James Version (1611)
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said vnto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I haue performed the commandement of the Lord.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said to him, Blessed art thou of the Lord: I have performed all that the Lord said.

English Revised Version
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible
When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, "May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD's instructions."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the while Samuel cam to Saul, Saul seide to hym, Blessid be thou of the Lord, Y haue fillid the `word of the Lord.

Young's Literal Translation
And Samuel cometh in unto Saul, and Saul saith to him, `Blessed [art] thou of Jehovah; I have performed the word of Jehovah.'

Update Bible Version
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed be you of Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said to him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

World English Bible
Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed are you by Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.

New King James Version
Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD."

New Living Translation
When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. "May the Lord bless you," he said. "I have carried out the Lord 's command!"

New Life Bible
Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "May the Lord bring good to you. I have done what the Lord told me to do."

New Revised Standard
When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, "May you be blessed by the Lord ; I have carried out the command of the Lord ."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Samuel came unto Saul, - and Saul said unto him - Blessed, be thou by Yahweh: I have established the word of Yahweh.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.

Revised Standard Version
And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed be you to the LORD; I have performed the commandment of the LORD."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD."

Contextual Overview

¹⁰Then God spoke to Samuel: "I'm sorry I ever made Saul king. He's turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him." Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. He got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, "Saul's gone. He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor, and then was headed for Gilgal." By the time Samuel caught up with him, Saul had just finished an act of worship, having used Amalekite plunder for the burnt offerings sacrificed to God . As Samuel came close, Saul called out, " God 's blessings on you! I accomplished God 's plan to the letter!" Samuel said, "So what's this I'm hearing—this bleating of sheep, this mooing of cattle?" "Only some Amalekite loot," said Saul. "The soldiers saved back a few of the choice cattle and sheep to offer up in sacrifice to God . But everything else we destroyed under the holy ban." "Enough!" interrupted Samuel. "Let me tell you what God told me last night." Saul said, "Go ahead. Tell me." And Samuel told him. "When you started out in this, you were nothing—and you knew it. Then God put you at the head of Israel—made you king over Israel. Then God sent you off to do a job for him, ordering you, ‘Go and put those sinners, the Amalekites, under a holy ban. Go to war against them until you have totally wiped them out.' So why did you not obey God ? Why did you grab all this loot? Why, with God 's eyes on you all the time, did you brazenly carry out this evil?" Saul defended himself. "What are you talking about? I did obey God . I did the job God set for me. I brought in King Agag and destroyed the Amalekites under the terms of the holy ban. So the soldiers saved back a few choice sheep and cattle from the holy ban for sacrifice to God at Gilgal—what's wrong with that?" Then Samuel said, Do you think all God wants are sacrifices— empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult. Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors. Because you said No to God 's command, he says No to your kingship. Saul gave in and confessed, "I've sinned. I've trampled roughshod over God 's Word and your instructions. I cared more about pleasing the people. I let them tell me what to do. Oh, absolve me of my sin! Take my hand and lead me to the altar so I can worship God !" But Samuel refused: "No, I can't come alongside you in this. You rejected God 's command. Now God has rejected you as king over Israel." As Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed at his priestly robe and a piece tore off. Samuel said, " God has just now torn the kingdom from you, and handed it over to your neighbor, a better man than you are. Israel's God-of-Glory doesn't deceive and he doesn't dither. He says what he means and means what he says." Saul tried again, "I have sinned. But don't abandon me! Support me with your presence before the leaders and the people. Come alongside me as I go back to worship God ." Samuel did. He went back with him. And Saul went to his knees before God and worshiped. Then Samuel said, "Present King Agag of Amalek to me." Agag came, dragging his feet, muttering that he'd be better off dead. Samuel said, "Just as your sword made many a woman childless, so your mother will be childless among those women!" And Samuel cut Agag down in the presence of God right there in Gilgal. Samuel left immediately for Ramah and Saul went home to Gibeah. Samuel had nothing to do with Saul from then on, though he grieved long and deeply over him. But God was sorry he had ever made Saul king in the first place. ¹² Samuel said to Saul, " God sent me to anoint you king over his people, Israel. Now, listen again to what God says. This is the God -of-the-Angel-Armies speaking: "‘I'm about to get even with Amalek for ambushing Israel when Israel came up out of Egypt. Here's what you are to do: Go to war against Amalek. Put everything connected with Amalek under a holy ban. And no exceptions! This is to be total destruction—men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys—the works.'" Saul called the army together at Telaim and prepared them to go to war—two hundred companies of infantry from Israel and another ten companies from Judah. Saul marched to Amalek City and hid in the canyon. Then Saul got word to the Kenites: "Get out of here while you can. Evacuate the city right now or you'll get lumped in with the Amalekites. I'm warning you because you showed real kindness to the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." And they did. The Kenites evacuated the place. Then Saul went after Amalek, from the canyon all the way to Shur near the Egyptian border. He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive. Everyone else was killed under the terms of the holy ban. Saul and the army made an exception for Agag, and for the choice sheep and cattle. They didn't include them under the terms of the holy ban. But all the rest, which nobody wanted anyway, they destroyed as decreed by the holy ban. Then God spoke to Samuel: "I'm sorry I ever made Saul king. He's turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him." Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. He got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, "Saul's gone. He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor, and then was headed for Gilgal." By the time Samuel caught up with him, Saul had just finished an act of worship, having used Amalekite plunder for the burnt offerings sacrificed to God . ¹³ As Samuel came close, Saul called out, " God 's blessings on you! I accomplished God 's plan to the letter!" ¹⁴ Samuel said, "So what's this I'm hearing—this bleating of sheep, this mooing of cattle?" ¹⁵ "Only some Amalekite loot," said Saul. "The soldiers saved back a few of the choice cattle and sheep to offer up in sacrifice to God . But everything else we destroyed under the holy ban." ¹⁶ "Enough!" interrupted Samuel. "Let me tell you what God told me last night." Saul said, "Go ahead. Tell me." ¹⁷And Samuel told him. "When you started out in this, you were nothing—and you knew it. Then God put you at the head of Israel—made you king over Israel. Then God sent you off to do a job for him, ordering you, ‘Go and put those sinners, the Amalekites, under a holy ban. Go to war against them until you have totally wiped them out.' So why did you not obey God ? Why did you grab all this loot? Why, with God 's eyes on you all the time, did you brazenly carry out this evil?" ²⁰Saul defended himself. "What are you talking about? I did obey God . I did the job God set for me. I brought in King Agag and destroyed the Amalekites under the terms of the holy ban. So the soldiers saved back a few choice sheep and cattle from the holy ban for sacrifice to God at Gilgal—what's wrong with that?" ²²Then Samuel said, Do you think all God wants are sacrifices— empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production. Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult. Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors. Because you said No to God 's command, he says No to your kingship.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Blessed: 1 Samuel 13:10, Genesis 14:19, Judges 17:2, Ruth 3:10

I have performed: 1 Samuel 15:9, 1 Samuel 15:11, Genesis 3:12, Proverbs 27:2, Proverbs 28:13, Proverbs 30:13, Proverbs 31:31, Luke 17:10, Luke 18:11

Reciprocal: Numbers 20:11 - smote Numbers 31:14 - wroth Judges 16:15 - when thine 1 Samuel 15:20 - Yea 2 Samuel 14:32 - if there Psalms 36:1 - The transgression Proverbs 16:2 - the ways Proverbs 30:12 - that are Jeremiah 2:23 - How canst Jeremiah 48:10 - Cursed Matthew 25:44 - when Luke 15:29 - Lo Luke 18:12 - fast

Cross-References

Genesis 15:1
After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"

Genesis 15:2
Abram said, " God , Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?" Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."

Genesis 15:6
And he believed! Believed God ! God declared him "Set-Right-with-God."

Genesis 15:7
God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."

Genesis 15:8
Abram said, "Master God , how am I to know this, that it will all be mine?"

Genesis 15:13
God said to Abram, "Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they'll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."

Exodus 1:11
So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had—children everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn't stand the Israelites and treated them worse than ever, crushing them with slave labor. They made them miserable with hard labor—making bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on the work, crushing them under the cruel workload.

Exodus 22:21
"Don't abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt.

Exodus 23:9
"Don't take advantage of a stranger. You know what it's like to be a stranger; you were strangers in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10:19
You must treat foreigners with the same loving care— remember, you were once foreigners in Egypt. Reverently respect God , your God, serve him, hold tight to him, back up your promises with the authority of his name. He's your praise! He's your God! He did all these tremendous, these staggering things that you saw with your own eyes.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Samuel came to Saul,.... At Gilgal:

and Saul said unto him, blessed be thou of the Lord; signifying that he had abundant reason to bless the Lord on his account, not only that he had anointed him king, but had sent him on such an errand, in which he had succeeded so well, and it was a pleasure to him that he might report it to him:

I have performed the commandment of the Lord; either he was really ignorant that he had done amiss; and thought that his sparing Agag, when he had destroyed all the rest, and reserving some of the best of the cattle for sacrifice, could not be interpreted a breach of the orders given him; or if he was conscious he had broken the commandment of the Lord, this he said to prevent Samuel's reproof of him, and to sooth him with flattering words.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Gilgal being within 15 miles of Ramah, Samuel might easily have come from Ramah that morning. Self-will and rashness had hitherto been Saul’s chief faults. He now seems to add falsehood and hypocrisy.