1
Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORDsent 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.
3
Now go and smiteAmalek, 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.
5
And Saulcame to a city of Amalek, and laid wait* in the valley.
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6
And Saulsaid unto the Kenites,Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewedkindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenitesdeparted from among the Amalekites.
9
But Saul and the peoplesparedAgag, 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.
10
Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel,saying,
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11
It repenteth me that I have set upSaul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grievedSamuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
12
And when Samuel rose early to meetSaul in the morning, it was toldSamuel,saying, Saulcame to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
15
And Saulsaid, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the peoplespared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
17
And Samuelsaid, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORDanointed thee king over Israel?
20
And Saulsaid unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORDsent me, and have broughtAgag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21
But the peopletook 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.
22
And Samuelsaid, 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.
23
For 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.
24
And Saulsaid 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.
26
And Samuelsaid 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.
28
And Samuelsaid 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.
30
Then 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.
32
Then saidSamuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agagcame unto him delicately. And Agagsaid, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33
And Samuelsaid, As thy sword hath made womenchildless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And SamuelhewedAgag in piecesbefore the LORD in Gilgal.
35
And Samuel came no more to seeSaul until the day of his death:neverthelessSamuelmourned for Saul: and the LORDrepented that he had made Saulking over Israel.