1Samuel also said unto Saul , The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people , over Israel : now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD . 2Thus 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 . 3Now go and smite Amalek , and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman , infant and suckling , ox and sheep , camel and ass .
Saul's Disobedience
4And Saul gathered the people together , and numbered them in Telaim , two hundred thousand footmen , and ten thousand men of Judah . 5And Saul came to a city of Amalek , and laid wait in the valley . 6And Saul said unto the Kenites , Go , depart , get you down from among the Amalekites , lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel , when they came up out of Egypt . So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites . 7And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur , that is over against Egypt . 8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive , and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword . 9But 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 utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse , that they destroyed utterly .
Samuel Confronts Saul
10Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel , saying , 11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king : for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments . And it grieved Samuel ; and he cried unto the LORD all night . 12And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning , it was told Samuel , saying , Saul came to Carmel , and, behold, he set him up a place , and is gone about , and passed on , and gone down to Gilgal . 13And Samuel came to Saul : and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD : I have performed the commandment of the LORD . 14And Samuel said , What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears , and the lowing of the oxen which I hear ? 15And Saul said , They have brought them from the Amalekites : for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen , to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God ; and the rest we have utterly destroyed . 16Then Samuel said unto Saul , Stay , and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night . And he said unto him, Say on . 17And Samuel said , When thou wast little in thine own sight , wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel , and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel ? 18And the LORD sent thee on a journey , and said , Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites , and fight against them until they be consumed . 19Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD , but didst fly upon the spoil , and didst evil in the sight of the LORD ?
The Consequences of Disobedience
20And Saul said unto Samuel , Yea, 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 . 21But the people took of the spoil , sheep and oxen , the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed , to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal . 22And Samuel said , Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices , as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice , and to hearken than the fat of rams . 23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft , and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry . Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD , he hath also rejected thee from being king . 24And Saul said unto Samuel , I have sinned : for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD , and thy words : because I feared the people , and obeyed their voice . 25Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin , and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD . 26And Samuel said unto Saul , I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD , and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel . 27And as Samuel turned about to go away , he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle , and it rent . 28And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day , and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 29And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent : for he is not a man , that he should repent . 30Then he said , I have sinned : yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people , and before Israel , and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God . 31So Samuel turned again after Saul ; and Saul worshipped the LORD . 32Then said Samuel , Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites . And Agag came unto him delicately . And Agag said , Surely the bitterness of death is past . 33And Samuel said , As thy sword hath made women childless , so shall thy mother be childless among women . And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal . 34Then Samuel went to Ramah ; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul . 35And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death : nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul : and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel .