Saul’s Disobedience
1 Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 The Lord of hosts says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
4 Saul summoned the people, and counted them in Telaim, 200,000 footmen, and 10,000 men of Judah. 5 Saul came to the city of Amalek, and set an ambush in the valley. 6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the Israelites, when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt. 8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, and of the fat calves, and the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them, but everything that was vile and worthless, that, they utterly destroyed.
Samuel Denounces Saul
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
12 Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and Samuel was told, “Saul came to Carmel, and he set up a monument for himself and turned, and continued on, and went down to Gilgal.”
13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14 Samuel said, “Then what is the meaning of this sheep bleating in my ears and cattle lowing that I am hearing?”
15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to the Lord your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stay, and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
He said to him, “Tell me.”
17 Samuel said, “Though you were small in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Lord sent you on a journey and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but took the plunder and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me and have brought Agag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took from the plunder, sheep and cattle. The best was set apart for sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
22 Samuel said, “Does the Lord have as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to listen, than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is like idolatry and iniquity. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
Saul’s Confession
24 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 them. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and turn back with me, 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 As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 29 Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is not a man, that he should repent.”
30 Then he said, “I have sinned, yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.”
31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites here to me!”
Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33 Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel no longer came to see Saul until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.