7
Then Saul went after Amalek, from the canyon all the way to Shur near the Egyptian border.
8
He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive. Everyone else was killed under the terms of the holy ban.
9
Saul and the army made an exception for Agag, and for the choice sheep and cattle. They didn't include them under the terms of the holy ban. But all the rest, which nobody wanted anyway, they destroyed as decreed by the holy ban.
10
Then God spoke to Samuel:
11
"I'm sorry I ever made Saul king. He's turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him."
12
He got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, "Saul's gone. He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor, and then was headed for Gilgal." By the time Samuel caught up with him, Saul had just finished an act of worship, having used Amalekite plunder for the burnt offerings sacrificed to God.
13
As Samuel came close, Saul called out, "God's blessings on you! I accomplished God's plan to the letter!"
14
Samuel said, "So what's this I'm hearing - this bleating of sheep, this mooing of cattle?"
15
"Only some Amalekite loot," said Saul. "The soldiers saved back a few of the choice cattle and sheep to offer up in sacrifice to God. But everything else we destroyed under the holy ban."
16
"Enough!" interrupted Samuel. "Let me tell you what God told me last night." Saul said, "Go ahead. Tell me."
17
And Samuel told him. "When you started out in this, you were nothing - and you knew it. Then God put you at the head of Israel - made you king over Israel.