1 Samuel 15

And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over Israel; and now hear the voice of the Lord.

Thus said the Lord Sabaoth, Now I will avenge what Amalek did to Israel, how he met him in the way when he came up out of Egypt.

And now go and strike Amalek and Ierim and all that is his; and you shall not preserve anything of his, but shall utterly destroy him and devote him to destruction, him and all that is his; and you shall not spare him, but shall kill from man to woman, and from infant to suckling, and from calf to sheep, and from camel to ass.

And Saul gave command to the people, and he numbers them in Galgala: four hundred thousand in ranks, and Judah thirty thousand in ranks.

And Saul came as far as the cities of Amalek and lay in ambush in the wadi.

And Saul said to the Kenite, Depart and turn aside from the midst of the Amalekite, lest I include you with him; for you showed mercy to the sons of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. And the Kenite turned aside from the midst of Amalek.

And Saul struck Amalek from Evilat as far as Sour, over against Egypt.

And he took Agag king of Amalek alive, and all the people of Ierim he killed with the edge of the sword.

But Saul and all the people spared Agag alive, and the good of the flocks and of the herds and of the foods and of the vineyards and all the good things, and he was not willing to destroy them utterly; but every work that was despised and rejected they utterly destroyed.

And a word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,

I have changed my mind that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my words. And Samuel was disheartened, and he cried to the Lord all night.

And Samuel rose early and went in the morning to meet Israel; and it was reported to Samuel, saying, Saul has come to Carmel, and he has set up for himself a hand. And he turned the chariot and went down to Galgala to Saul; and behold, he was offering up a whole burnt offering to the Lord, the firstfruits of the spoils which he brought from Amalek.

And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed are you to the Lord; I have performed all that the Lord spoke.

And Samuel said, And what is this sound of a flock in my ears, and the sound of oxen which I hear?

And Saul said, I brought them from Amalek, which the people spared, the best of the flock and of the oxen, that it might be sacrificed to the Lord your God; and the rest I utterly destroyed.

And Samuel said to Saul, Stop, and I will tell you what the Lord spoke to me in the night. And he said to him, Speak.

And Samuel said to Saul, Are you not small in his sight, yet a leader of the staff of a tribe of Israel? And the Lord anointed you as king over Israel.

And the Lord sent you on a way and said to you, Go and utterly destroy those who sin against me, Amalek, and you shall fight against them until you have finished them off.

And why did you not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but rushed to set upon the spoils and did what is evil before the Lord?

And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people; yet I went in the way in which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag king of Amalek, and Amalek I utterly destroyed.

And the people took of the spoils flocks and herds, the firstfruits of the devoted things, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Galgala.

And Samuel said, Does the Lord delight in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to the voice of the Lord? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentive listening than the fat of rams.

For divination is sin; teraphim bring on pain and toils. Because you have set at nought the word of the Lord, the Lord also will set you at nought, that you should not be king over Israel.

And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I transgressed the word of the Lord and your word, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

And now take away, I pray, my sin, and turn back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.

And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn back with you, for you have set at nought the word of the Lord, and the Lord will set you at nought, that you should not be king over Israel.

And Samuel turned his face away to depart, and Saul seized the skirt of his double cloak and tore it.

And Samuel said to him, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel out of your hand today, and will give it to your neighbour, who is better than you.

And Israel shall be divided in two; and he will not turn back nor repent, for he is not as a man, that he should repent.

And Saul said, I have sinned; but honour me now before the elders of Israel and before my people, and turn back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.

And Samuel turned back after Saul, and he worshipped the Lord.

And Samuel said, Bring to me Agag king of Amalek. And Agag came to him trembling. And Agag said, Is death thus bitter?

And Samuel said to Agag, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be made childless among women. And Samuel slaughtered Agag before the Lord in Galgal.

And Samuel went away to Armathaim, and Saul went up to his house, to Gabaa.

And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned over Saul; and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.