And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king
over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the
LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to
Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.
Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they
have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and
infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

  So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two
hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. And
Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. Then
Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the
Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness
to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the
Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul defeated the
Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And
he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to
destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and
the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen
and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good,
and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and
worthless they devoted to destruction.

  The word of the LORD came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made
Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not
performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to
the LORD all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the
morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold,
he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went
down to Gilgal.” And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him,
“Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of
the LORD.” And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the
sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Saul
said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people
spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the
LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” Then
Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to
me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

  And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you
not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king
over Israel. And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go,
devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight
against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey
the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what
was evil in the sight of the LORD?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I
have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on
which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and
I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took
of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to
destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” And
Samuel said,

    “Has 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 listen than the fat of rams.
    For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
        and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
    Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
        he has also rejected you from being king.”


      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 obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin
and return with me that I may bow before the LORD.” 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.” As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of
his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn
the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a
neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Glory of
Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he
should have regret.” Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now
before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with
me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” So Samuel turned back
after Saul, and Saul bowed before the LORD.

  Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the
Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely
the bitterness of death is past.” And Samuel said, “As your sword
has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among
women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

  Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in
Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of
his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted
that he had made Saul king over Israel.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001
by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.