Chapter 15
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 LORD ’s words .
2 The LORD 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 .
3 Now go and strike Amalek , and utterly destroy all that they have , and don’t 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 , two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand 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 amongst 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 amongst the Amalekites .
7 Saul struck the Amalekites , from Havilah as you go to Shur , which 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 , of the fat calves , of the lambs , and all that was good , and were not willing to utterly destroy them ; but everything that was vile and refuse , that they destroyed utterly .
10 Then the LORD ’s word 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 , saying, " Saul came to Carmel , and behold , he set up a monument for himself , turned , passed 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 does this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?"
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 , " Say on ."
17 Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight , weren’t you 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 didn’t you obey the LORD ’s voice , but took the plunder , and did that which was evil in the LORD ’s sight ?"
20 Saul said to Samuel , " But I have obeyed the LORD ’s voice , 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 of the plunder , sheep and cattle , the best of the devoted things , to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal ."
22 Samuel said , " Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices , as in obeying the LORD ’s voice ? Behold , to obey is better than sacrifice , and to listen than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft , and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim . Because you have rejected the LORD ’s word , he has also rejected you from being king ."
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 their voice .
25 Now therefore , please pardon my sin , and turn again with me , that I may worship the LORD ."
26 Samuel said to Saul , " I will not return with you ; for you have rejected the LORD ’s word , 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 neighbour 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 honour 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 worshipped 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 amongst 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 came no more to see Saul until the day of his death , but Samuel mourned for Saul . The LORD grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel .