Thematic Bible: Expostulate with rulers


Thematic Bible



And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and you did not come in the days appointed, and the Philistines gathered themselves at Michmash, and I said, The Philistines will come down now on me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to Jehovah. And I forced myself and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God, which He commanded you. For now Jehovah would have established your kingdom on Israel forever. read more.
But now your kingdom shall not stand. Jehovah has sought Him a man after His own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him to be leader over His people, because you have not kept what Jehovah commanded you.

And the Word of Jehovah came to Samuel saying, It repents Me that I have set up Saul to be king. For he has turned back from following Me and has not done My commands. And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to Jehovah all night. And when Samuel rose up early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told to Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a place for himself, and has gone around and passed on and gone down to Gilgal. read more.
And Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, You are blessed of Jehovah. I have done the command of Jehovah. And Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the flock in my ears? And what is the sound of the herd which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites. For the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to Jehovah your God. And the rest we have completely destroyed. And Samuel said to Saul, Stop! And I will tell you what Jehovah has said to me tonight. And he said to him, Speak. And Samuel said, When you were little in your own sight, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah anointed you king over Israel. And Jehovah sent you on the way and said, Go and completely destroy the sinners, Amalek, and fight against them until you destroy them. Why then did you not obey the voice of Jehovah? Why did you fly on the spoil and do evil in the sight of Jehovah? And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took from the spoil, of the flocks and herd, the best of the things devoted to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To listen is better than the fat of rams! For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idol-worship. Because you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, He has also rejected you from being king! And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned. For I have disobeyed the command of Jehovah, and your word, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. And now please pardon my sin and turn again with me so that I may worship Jehovah. And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, and Jehovah has rejected you from being king over Israel. And Samuel turned around to go, and he laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, Jehovah has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor repent, for He is not a man that He should repent. Then he said, I have sinned. Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and turn again with me. And I shall worship Jehovah your God. And Samuel turned again after Saul, and Saul worshiped Jehovah.


And it happened when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Are you he that troubles Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah, and you have followed the Baals.


And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said to him, There were two men in one city, one rich and one poor. The rich one had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor one had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished up. And it grew up together with him and with his sons. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him like a daughter. read more.
And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the traveler that had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man who had come to him. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, You are the man! So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if that was too little, I would have given to you such and such things besides. Why have you despised the Word of Jehovah, to do evil in His sight? You have stricken Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. And therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. So says Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. And he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Only, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, this child born to you shall surely die.