 1 Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over Israel. Now listen to the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, I will visit Amalek with what he did to Israel, how he set against him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek, and completely destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4 Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 soldiers+ and 10,000 men of Judah. 5 Saul came to a city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Saul said to the Kenites, Go. Depart. Get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah, as you come to Shur, which is over across from Egypt. 8 He took King Agag of the Amalekites alive and completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 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 completely destroy them. But everything that was vile and feeble they completely destroyed. 10 The Word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, 11 I regret+ that I have set up Saul to be king. For he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. It grieved Samuel and he cried out to the Lord all night. 12 When Samuel rose 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. 13 Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, You are blessed of the Lord. I have done the command of the Lord. 14 Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the flock in my ears? And what is the sound of the herd which I hear? 15 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 the Lord your God. And the rest we have completely destroyed. 16 Samuel said to Saul, Stop. And I will tell you what the Lord has said to me tonight. And he said to him, Speak. 17 Samuel said, When you were little in your own sight, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 The Lord sent you on the way and said, Go and completely destroy the sinners, Amalek, and fight against them until you destroy them. 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you fly on the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord? 20 Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought King Agag of Amalek and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took from the spoil, of the flocks and herd, the best of the things devoted to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. 22 Samuel said, Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. To listen is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idol worship. Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king. 24 Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned. For I have disobeyed the command of the Lord, and your word, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now please pardon my sin and turn again with me so that I may worship the Lord. 26 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 Samuel turned around to go, and he laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 29 Also the glory of Israel will not lie nor repent, for He is not a man that He should repent. 30 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 the Lord your God. 31 Samuel turned again after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32 Samuel said, Bring King Agag of the Amalekites here to me. Agag came to him daintily and said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 33 Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 34 Samuel went to Ramah and Saul went to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel no longer came to see Saul until the day of his death. But then Samuel mourned for Saul and the Lord regretted+ that He had made Saul king over Israel.
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