1 Samuel 15:24
New International Version
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the LORD’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.

New Living Translation
Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded.

English Standard Version
Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

King James Bible
And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

New King James Version
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

New American Standard Bible
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have violated the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

NASB 1995
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.

NASB 1977
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.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed trespassed against the command of Yahweh and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Amplified Bible
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Christian Standard Bible
Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the LORD’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the LORD’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them.

American Standard Version
And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Shaul said to Shemueil: “I have sinned, for I have passed over the word of the mouth of LORD JEHOVAH and over your words, because I was afraid of the people and I listened to their voice!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, in that I have transgressed the word of the Lord and thy direction; for I feared the people, and I hearkened to their voice.

Contemporary English Version
"I have sinned," Saul admitted. "I disobeyed both you and the LORD. I was afraid of the army, and I listened to them instead.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice.

English Revised Version
And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then Saul told Samuel, "I have sinned by not following the LORD's command or your instructions. I was afraid of the people and listened to them.

Good News Translation
"Yes, I have sinned," Saul replied. "I disobeyed the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted.

International Standard Version
"I've sinned," Saul replied to Samuel. "I've broken the LORD's command and your word, because I was afraid of the people and listened to them.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Saul said unto Samuel: 'I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words; because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice.

Literal Standard Version
And Saul says to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I passed over the command of YHWH, and your words; because I have feared the people, I also listen to their voice;

Majority Standard Bible
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

New American Bible
Saul admitted to Samuel: “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the command of the LORD and your instructions. I feared the people and obeyed them.

NET Bible
Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the LORD commanded and what you said as well. For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes.

New Revised Standard Version
Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

New Heart English Bible
Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words; because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

World English Bible
Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Young's Literal Translation
And Saul saith unto Samuel, 'I have sinned, for I passed over the command of Jehovah, and thy words; because I have feared the people, I also hearken to their voice;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Saul's Confession
24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.”…

Cross References
Numbers 22:34
"I have sinned," Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home."

1 Samuel 26:21
Then Saul replied, "I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!"

2 Samuel 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." "The LORD has taken away your sin," Nathan replied. "You will not die.

Psalm 51:4
Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.

Isaiah 51:12
"I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

Isaiah 51:13
But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?


Treasury of Scripture

And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

I have sinned

1 Samuel 15:30
Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.

Exodus 9:27
And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

Exodus 10:16
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.

I feared

1 Samuel 15:9
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

Exodus 23:2
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

Job 31:34
Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

obeyed

1 Samuel 2:29
Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

Genesis 3:12,17
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat…

Jeremiah 38:5
Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

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Afraid Command Commandment Hearken Hearkened Indeed Instructions Lord's Obeyed Passed Samuel Saul Sin Sinned Transgressed Violated Voice Words
1 Samuel 15
1. Samuel sends Saul to destroy Amalek
6. Saul favors the Kenites
7. He spares Agag and the best of the spoil
10. Samuel denounces unto Saul God's rejection of him for his disobedience
24. Saul's humiliation
32. Samuel kills Agag
34. Samuel and Saul part














(24) I have sinned.--The grave condemnation of the prophet appalled the king. The grounds of the Divine rejection evidently sank deep into Saul's heart. Such a thought as that, in the eyes of the Invisible and Eternal, he ranked with the idolators and heathen sinners around, was, even for one sunk so low as Saul, terrible.

Because I feared the people.--He, with stammering lips, while deprecating the Divine sentence, still seeks to justify himself; but all that he could allege in excuse only more plainly marked out his unfitness for his high post. He could, after all, only plead that he loved the praise of men more than the approval of his God; that he preferred--as so many of earth's great ones have since done--the sweets of transient popular applause to the solitary consciousness that he was a faithful servant of the Highest.

Verse 24. - The words of Samuel struck Saul with terror. The same authority which had first given him the kingdom now withdraws it from him, and pronounces his offence as equal in God's sight to crimes which Saul himself held in great abhorrence. He humbles himself, therefore, before Samuel, acknowledges his sin, and frankly confesses that the cause of it had been his unwillingness to act in a manner contrary to the wishes of the people; and we must fairly conclude that the sparing of the spoil had been the people's doing. But was it not the king's duty to make the people obedient to Jehovah's voice? As the theocratic king, he was Jehovah's minister, and in preferring popularity to duty he showed himself unworthy of his position. Nor can we suppose that his confession of sin arose from penitence. It was the result simply of vexation at having his victory crossed by reproaches and disapproval from the only power capable of holding him in check. It seems, too, as if it were Samuel whom he feared more than Jehovah; for he speaks of thy words, and asks Samuel to pardon his sin, and to grant him the favour of his public presence with him at the sacrifice which was about to be celebrated in honour of their triumph.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Saul
שָׁא֤וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to Samuel,
שְׁמוּאֵל֙ (šə·mū·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8050: Samuel -- 'name of God', a prophet of Israel

“I have sinned;
חָטָ֔אתִי (ḥā·ṭā·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 2398: To miss, to sin, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, lead astray, condemn

I have transgressed
עָבַ֥רְתִּי (‘ā·ḇar·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

the LORD’s
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

commandment
פִּֽי־ (pî-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to

and your instructions,
דְּבָרֶ֑יךָ (də·ḇā·re·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

because
כִּ֤י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I feared
יָרֵ֙אתִי֙ (yā·rê·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3372: To fear, to revere, caus, to frighten

the people
הָעָ֔ם (hā·‘ām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

and obeyed
וָאֶשְׁמַ֖ע (wā·’eš·ma‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

their voice.
בְּקוֹלָֽם׃ (bə·qō·w·lām)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 6963: A voice, sound


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OT History: 1 Samuel 15:24 Saul said to Samuel I have sinned (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 15:23
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