1 Samuel 15:1–35

¹Then Samuel said to Saul: “It was I whom Jehovah sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel, and now listen to the voice of the words of Jehovah.²This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘I must call to account what Am′a‧lek did to Israel when he set himself against him in the way while he was coming up out of Egypt.³Now go, and you must strike down Am′a‧lek and devote him to destruction with all that he has, and you must not have compassion upon him, and you must put them to death, man as well as woman, child as well as suckling, bull as well as sheep, camel as well as ass.’”⁴Accordingly Saul summoned the people and took the count of them in Te‧la′im, two hundred thousand men on foot and ten thousand men of Judah.

⁵And Saul proceeded to come as far as the city of Am′a‧lek and to lie in ambush by the torrent valley.⁶Meanwhile Saul said to the Ken′ites: “GO, ​DEPART, ​GO DOWN​ from the midst of the A‧mal′ek‧ites, that I may not sweep you away with them. As for you, you exercised loving‐kindness with all the sons of Israel at the time of their coming up out of Egypt.” So the Ken′ites departed from the midst of Am′a‧lek.⁷After that Saul went striking down Am′a‧lek from Hav′i‧lah as far as Shur, which is in front of Egypt.⁸And he got to catch A′gag the king of Am′a‧lek alive, and all the other people he devoted to destruction with the edge of the sword.⁹But Saul and the people had compassion upon A′gag and upon the best of the flock and the herd and the fat ones and upon the rams and upon all that was good, and they did not wish to devote them to destruction. As for all the goods that were despicable and rejected, these they devoted to destruction.

¹⁰The word of Jehovah now came to Samuel, saying:¹¹“I do regret that I have caused Saul to reign as king, because he has turned back from following me, and my words he has not carried out.” And it was distressing to Samuel, and he kept crying out to Jehovah all night long.¹²Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul in the morning. But report was made to Samuel, saying: “Saul came to Car′mel, and, look! he was erecting a monument for himself, and he then turned around and went across and descended to Gil′gal.”¹³At length Samuel came to Saul, and Saul began to say to him: “Blessed are you of Jehovah. I have carried out the word of Jehovah.”¹⁴But Samuel said: “Then what does this sound of the flock in my ears mean, and the sound of the herd that I am hearing?”¹⁵To this Saul said: “From the A‧mal′ek‧ites they have brought them, because the people had compassion upon the best of the flock and of the herd, for the purpose of sacrificing to Jehovah your God; but what was left over we have devoted to destruction.”¹⁶At this Samuel said to Saul: “Stop! And I will tell you what Jehovah spoke to me last night.” So he said to him: “Speak!”

¹⁷And Samuel went on to say: “Was it not when you were little in your own eyes that you were head of the tribes of Israel, and Jehovah proceeded to anoint you as king over Israel?¹⁸Later Jehovah sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, and you must devote the sinners, the A‧mal′ek‧ites, to destruction, and you must fight against them until you will have exterminated them.’¹⁹So why is it you did not obey the voice of Jehovah but went darting greedily at the spoil and doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah?”

²⁰However, Saul said to Samuel: “But I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah in that I went on the mission on which Jehovah had sent me and I brought A′gag the king of Am′a‧lek, but Am′a‧lek I have devoted to destruction.²¹And the people went taking from the spoil sheep and cattle, the choicest of them as something devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gil′gal.”

²²In turn Samuel said: “Does Jehovah have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Look! To obey is better than a sacrifice, to pay attention than the fat of rams;²³for rebelliousness is the same as the sin of divination, and pushing ahead presumptuously the same as [using] uncanny power and teraphim. Since you have rejected the word of Jehovah, he accordingly rejects you from being king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel: “I have sinned; for I have overstepped the order of Jehovah and your words, because I feared the people and so obeyed their voice.²⁵And now, please, pardon my sin and return with me that I may prostrate myself to Jehovah.”²⁶But Samuel said to Saul: “I shall not return with you, for you have rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah rejects you from continuing as king over Israel.”²⁷As Samuel was turning about to go, he immediately grabbed hold of the skirt of his sleeveless coat, but it ripped away.²⁸At this Samuel said to him: “Jehovah has ripped away the royal rule of Israel from off you today, and he will certainly give it to a fellowman of yours who is better than you.²⁹And, besides, the Excellency of Israel will not prove false, and He will not feel regrets, for He is not an earthling man so as to feel regrets.”

³⁰At this he said: “I have sinned. Now honor me, please, in front of the older men of my people and in front of Israel and return with me, and I shall certainly prostrate myself to Jehovah your God.”³¹So Samuel returned behind Saul, and Saul proceeded to prostrate himself to Jehovah.³²After that Samuel said: “BRING​ A′gag the king of Am′a‧lek near to me.” Then A′gag went to him reluctantly, and A′gag began to say to himself: “Truly the bitter experience of death has departed.”³³However, Samuel said: “Just as your sword has bereaved women of children, in that way your mother will be most bereaved of children among women.” With that Samuel went hacking A′gag to pieces before Jehovah in Gil′gal.

³⁴Samuel now went his way to Ra′mah, and Saul, for his part, went up to his own house at Gib′e‧ah of Saul.³⁵And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, because Samuel had gone into mourning for Saul. As for Jehovah, he regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.