9
And Saul and all the people saved Agag alive, and the best of the flocks, and of the herds, and of the fruits, of the vineyards, and of all the good things; and they would not destroy them: but every worthless and refuse thing they destroyed.
10
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11
I have repented that I have made Saul to be king: for he has turned back from following me, and has not kept my word. And Samuel was grieved, and cried to the Lord all night.
12
And Samuel rose early and went to meet Israel in the morning, and it was told Saul, saying, Samuel has come to Carmel, and he has raised up help for himself: and he turned his chariot, and came down to Galgala to Saul; and, behold, he was offering up a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord, the chief of the spoils which he brought out of Amalec.
13
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said to him, Blessed thou of the Lord: I have performed all that the Lord said.
14
And Samuel said, What then the bleating of this flock in my ears, and the sound of the oxen which I hear?
15
And Saul said, I have brought them out of Amalec, that which the people preserved, even the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, that it might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, and the rest have I utterly destroyed.
16
And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night: and he said to him, Say on.
17
And Samuel said to Saul, Art thou not little in his eyes, a leader of one of the tribes of Israel? and the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.
18
And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said to thee, Go, and utterly destroy: thou shalt slay the sinners against me, the Amalekites; and thou shalt war against them until thou have consumed them.
19
And why didst not thou hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst haste to fasten upon the spoils, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?
20
And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people: yet I went the way by which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king of Amalec, and I destroyed Amalec.
21
But the people took of the spoils the best flocks and herds of that which was destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Galgal.
22
And Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience better than a good sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams.
23
For sin is divination; idols bring on pain and grief. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord also shall reject thee from being king over Israel.
24
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, in that I have transgressed the word of the Lord and thy direction; for I feared the people, and I hearkened to their voice.