---
title: "1 Samuel 15 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/1-samuel/15/
description: "Saul is sent to destroy Amalec: he spareth their king and the best of their… 1 Samuel 15 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# 1 Samuel 15

1 Samuel 15 is chapter 15 of 31 in the First Book of Samuel. Here are all 35 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Saul is sent to destroy Amalec: he spareth their king and the best of their cattle: for which disobedience he is cast off by the Lord.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## 1 Samuel 15 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. And Samuel said to Saul: “The Lord sent me, so that I would anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the voice of the Lord.
2. ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have taken account of all that Amalek has done to Israel, how he stood against him in the way, when he ascended from Egypt.
3. Now therefore, go and strike Amalek, and demolish all that is his. You shall not spare him, and you shall not covet anything out of the things that are his. Instead, kill from man even to woman, and little ones as well as infants, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
4. And so, Saul instructed the people, and he numbered them like lambs: two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5. And when Saul had arrived as far as the city of Amalek, he placed ambushes at the torrent.
6. And Saul said to the Kenite: “Go away, withdraw, and descend from Amalek. Otherwise, I will include you with him. For you showed mercy to all the sons of Israel, when they ascended from Egypt.” And so the Kenite withdrew from the midst of Amalek.
7. And Saul struck down Amalek, from Havilah even until you arrive at Shur, which is opposite the region of Egypt.
8. And he apprehended Agag, the king of Amalek, alive. But all the common people he put to death with the edge of the sword.
9. And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flocks of sheep, and of the herds, and the garments, and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and they were not willing to destroy them. Yet truly, whatever was vile or worthless, these they demolished.
10. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying
11. “It displeases me that I have appointed Saul as king. For he has forsaken me, and he has not fulfilled the work of my words.” And Samuel was greatly saddened, and he cried out to the Lord, all night long
12. And when Samuel had risen while it was still dark, so that he might go to Saul in the morning, it was reported to Samuel that Saul had arrived at Carmel, and that he had erected for himself a triumphant arch. And, while returning, he had continued on and descended to Gilgal. Therefore, Samuel went to Saul. And Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord, from the best of the spoils, which he had brought from Amalek.
13. And when Samuel had gone to Saul, Saul said to him: “You are the blessed of the Lord. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.”
14. And Samuel said, “Then what is this voice of the flocks, which resounds in my ears, and of the herds, which I am hearing?”
15. And Saul said: “They have brought these from Amalek. For the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, so that they might be immolated to the Lord your God. Yet truly, the remainder we have slain.”
16. Then Samuel said to Saul, “Permit me, and I will reveal to you what the Lord has said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
17. And Samuel said: “Was it not when you were little in your own eyes that you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you as king over Israel.
18. And the Lord sent you on the way, and he said: ‘Go and put to death the sinners of Amalek. And you shall fight against them, even unto utter annihilation.’
19. Why then, did you not listen to the voice of the Lord? Instead, you turned to the spoils, and you did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
20. And Saul said to Samuel: “On the contrary, I did listen to the voice of the Lord, and I walked in the way along which the Lord sent me, and I led back Agag, the king of Amalek, and I put to death Amalek.
21. But the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, as the first-fruits of those things that were slain, to immolate to the Lord their God at Gilgal.”
22. And Samuel said: “Does the Lord want holocausts and victims, and not instead that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifice. And to heed is greater than to offer the fat of rams.
23. Therefore, it is like the sin of paganism to rebel. And it is like the crime of idolatry to refuse to obey. For this reason, therefore, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has also rejected you from being king.”
24. And Saul said to Samuel: “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the word of the Lord, and your words, by fearing the people and obeying their voice.
25. But now, I beg you, to bear my sin, and to return with me, so that I may adore the Lord.”
26. And 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. And Samuel turned away, so that he might depart. But Saul took hold of the edge of his cloak, and it tore.
28. And Samuel said to him: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you this day. And he has delivered it to your neighbor, who is better than you are.
29. Moreover, the One who triumphs within Israel will not spare, and he will not be moved to repentance. For he is not a man, that he should repent.”
30. Then he said: “I have sinned. But now, honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, so that I may adore the Lord your God.”
31. Therefore, Samuel turned again after Saul. And Saul adored the Lord.
32. And Samuel said, “Bring near to me Agag, the king of Amalek.” And Agag, very fat and trembling, was presented to him. And Agag said, “Does bitter death separate in this manner?”
33. And Samuel said, “Just as your sword caused women to be without their children, so will your mother be without her children among women.” And Samuel cut him into pieces, before the Lord at Gilgal.
34. Then Samuel went away to Ramah. But Saul ascended to his house at Gibeah.
35. And Samuel did not see Saul any more, until the day of his death. Yet truly, Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord regretted that he had appointed him as king over Israel.

## 1 Samuel 15 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Et dixit Samuel ad Saul: Me misit Dominus ut ungerem te in regem super populum ejus Israël: nunc ergo audi vocem Domini.
2. Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Recensui quæcumque fecit Amalec Israëli: quomodo restitit ei in via cum ascenderet de Ægypto.
3. Nunc ergo vade, et percute Amalec, et demolire universa ejus: non parcas ei, et non concupiscas ex rebus ipsius aliquid, sed interfice a viro usque ad mulierem, et parvulum atque lactentem, bovem et ovem, camelum et asinum.
4. Præcepit itaque Saul populo, et recensuit eos quasi agnos: ducenta millia peditum, et decem millia virorum Juda.
5. Cumque venisset Saul usque ad civitatem Amalec, tetendit insidias in torrente.
6. Dixitque Saul Cinæo: Abite, recedite, atque descendite ab Amalec, ne forte involvam te cum eo: tu enim fecisti misericordiam cum omnibus filiis Israël, cum ascenderent de Ægypto. Et recessit Cinæus de medio Amalec.
7. Percussitque Saul Amalec ab Hevila donec venias ad Sur, quæ est e regione Ægypti.
8. Et apprehendit Agag regem Amalec vivum: omne autem vulgus interfecit in ore gladii.
9. Et pepercit Saul et populus Agag, et optimis gregibus ovium et armentorum, et vestibus et arietibus, et universis quæ pulchra erant, nec voluerunt disperdere ea: quidquid vero vile fuit et reprobum, hoc demoliti sunt.
10. Factum est autem verbum Domini ad Samuel, dicens:
11. Pœnitet me quod constituerim Saul regem: quia dereliquit me, et verba mea opere non implevit. Contristatusque est Samuel, et clamavit ad Dominum tota nocte.
12. Cumque de nocte surrexisset Samuel ut iret ad Saul mane, nuntiatum est Samueli eo quod venisset Saul in Carmelum, et erexisset sibi fornicem triumphalem, et reversus transisset, descendissetque in Galgala. Venit ergo Samuel ad Saul, et Saul offerebat holocaustum Domino de initiis prædarum quæ attulerat ex Amalec.
13. Et cum venisset Samuel ad Saul, dixit ei Saul: Benedictus tu Domino: implevi verbum Domini.
14. Dixitque Samuel: Et quæ est hæc vox gregum, quæ resonat in auribus meis, et armentorum, quam ego audio?
15. Et ait Saul: De Amalec adduxerunt ea: pepercit enim populus melioribus ovibus et armentis ut immolarentur Domino Deo tuo, reliqua vero occidimus.
16. Ait autem Samuel ad Saul: Sine me, et indicabo tibi quæ locutus sit Dominus ad me nocte. Dixitque ei: Loquere.
17. Et ait Samuel: Nonne cum parvulus esses in oculis tuis, caput in tribubus Israël factus es? unxitque te Dominus in regem super Israël,
18. et misit te Dominus in viam, et ait: Vade, et interfice peccatores Amalec, et pugnabis contra eos usque ad internecionem eorum?
19. Quare ergo non audisti vocem Domini: sed versus ad prædam es, et fecisti malum in oculis Domini?
20. Et ait Saul ad Samuelem: Immo audivi vocem Domini, et ambulavi in via per quam misit me Dominus, et adduxi Agag regem Amalec, et Amalec interfeci.
21. Tulit autem de præda populus oves et boves, primitias eorum quæ cæsa sunt, ut immolet Domino Deo suo in Galgalis.
22. Et ait Samuel: Numquid vult Dominus holocausta et victimas, et non potius ut obediatur voci Domini? melior est enim obedientia quam victimæ, et auscultare magis quam offerre adipem arietum.
23. Quoniam quasi peccatum ariolandi est, repugnare: et quasi scelus idololatriæ, nolle acquiescere. Pro eo ergo quod abjecisti sermonem Domini, abjecit te Dominus ne sis rex.
24. Dixitque Saul ad Samuelem: Peccavi, quia prævaricatus sum sermonem Domini et verba tua, timens populum, et obediens voci eorum.
25. Sed nunc porta, quæso, peccatum meum, et revertere mecum, ut adorem Dominum.
26. Et ait Samuel ad Saul: Non revertar tecum, quia projecisti sermonem Domini, et projecit te Dominus ne sis rex super Israël.
27. Et conversus est Samuel ut abiret: ille autem apprehendit summitatem pallii ejus, quæ et scissa est.
28. Et ait ad eum Samuel: Scidit Dominus regnum Israël a te hodie, et tradidit illud proximo tuo meliori te.
29. Porro triumphator in Israël non parcet, et pœnitudine non flectetur: neque enim homo est ut agat pœnitentiam.
30. At ille ait: Peccavi: sed nunc honora me coram senioribus populi mei et coram Israël, et revertere mecum, ut adorem Dominum Deum tuum.
31. Reversus ergo Samuel secutus est Saulem: et adoravit Saul Dominum.
32. Dixitque Samuel: Adducite ad me Agag regem Amalec. Et oblatus est ei Agag, pinguissimus et tremens. Et dixit Agag: Siccine separat amara mors?
33. Et ait Samuel: Sicut fecit absque liberis mulieres gladius tuus, sic absque liberis erit inter mulieres mater tua. Et in frustra concidit eum Samuel coram Domino in Galgalis.
34. Abiit autem Samuel in Ramatha: Saul vero ascendit in domum suam in Gabaa.
35. Et non vidit Samuel ultra Saul usque ad diem mortis suæ: verumtamen lugebat Samuel Saulem, quoniam Dominum pœnitebat quod constituisset eum regem super Israël.

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 3: The great Master of life and death (who cuts off one half of all mankind whilst they are children) has been pleased sometimes to ordain that children should be put to the sword, in detestation of the crimes of their parents, and that they might not live to follow the same wicked ways. But without such ordinance of God it is not allowable, in any wars, how just soever, to kill children.
- Verse 35: That is, he went no more to see him: he visited him no more.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Mon, Jan 17, 2028 (computed): St. Anthony, Abbot — First Reading, 1 Samuel 15:16-23

Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).