1 ¶ Samuel also said to Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people Israel: now listen to the voice of the words of the LORD.

2 Thus says the LORD of hosts, I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them; but slay both men and women, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

4 So Saul assembled the men, and numbered them at Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men from Judah.

5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

6 And Saul warned the Kenites, Go, depart, get away from the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites came out from among the Amalekites.

7 And Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, that is east of Egypt.

8 And he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, although he completely destroyed all the rest of the people with the edge of the sword.

9 Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, and lambs, and all that was good, and would not completely destroy them: but they completely destroyed everything that was detestable and worthless.

10 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,

11 I am sorry that I made Saul king: for he has turned back from following me, and has not carried out my instructions. And Samuel was grieved; and he cried to the LORD all night.

12 And when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, he was told, Saul went to Carmel, where he set up a monument for himself, then he turned, and left, and has gone down to Gilgal.

13 When Samuel caught up with him: Saul said to him, May the LORD bless you: I have carried out the instructions of the LORD.

14 And Samuel said, Then what is this sound of sheep and oxen that I hear?

15 And Saul answered, The troops took them from the Amalekites: for they spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but we utterly destroyed the rest.

16 Then Samuel said to Saul, Stop, and I will tell you what the LORD said to me tonight. And Saul said to him, Say on.

17 And Samuel said, When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you king over Israel?

18 And the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.

19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but pounced on the spoil, and did evil in the sight of the LORD?

20 And Saul said to Samuel, But I did obey the LORD, and went on the mission that the LORD sent me on, and brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the troops took sheep and oxen from the plunder, the best of what was set apart for destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.

22 Then Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as much as obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen is better than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and defiance is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.

24 ¶ And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your words: because I feared the people, and listened to their voice.

25 Now therefore, I pray, pardon my sin, and return with me, so that I may worship the LORD.

26 And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you: for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.

27 And as Samuel turned around to leave, Saul seized the hem of his robe, and it tore.

28 And Samuel said to him, Today the LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

30 Then Saul said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.

31 So Samuel turned back following Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.

32 ¶ Then Samuel said, Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites here to me. And Agag came to him cheerfully. For Agag thought, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

33 But Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.

35 And even to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.