This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh of Armies says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
- KJV Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
- NKJV Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.
- NASB This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.
- NLT This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Lord announces judgment on Amalek for attacking Israel after the exodus, a long-remembered act of hostility.
Overview
God recalls Amalek's unprovoked assault on Israel's stragglers during the wilderness journey (Exodus 17:8-16; Deuteronomy 25:17-19), an act of contempt for God and his people. The coming command against Amalek is the outworking of God's righteous, patient justice, long promised. This sober announcement frames Saul's test and reminds us that God remembers and judges sin, even as he extends mercy to those who turn to him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 25:17–19Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt,
- Exod 17:8–16After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
- Num 24:20Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
- Hos 7:2But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face.
- Amos 8:7The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.
- Jer 31:34No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 15:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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