1 Samuel 15:8–33

⁸And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed ^mall the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹But Saul and the people ⁿspared Agag, 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.

¹⁰Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, ^11oIt repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is ^pturned back from following me, ^qand hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night. ¹²And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to ^rCarmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. ¹³And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, ^sBlessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. ¹⁴And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? ¹⁵And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: ^tfor the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. ¹⁶Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. ¹⁷And Samuel said, ^uWhen thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? ¹⁸And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until ^†they be consumed. ¹⁹Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst ^wfly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord? ²⁰And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, ^xI have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ^21yBut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of ^dthe things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. ²²And Samuel said,

^zHath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, ^ato obey is better than sacrifice,

And to hearken than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is as the sin of ^†witchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity and ^bidolatry.

Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,

^cHe hath also rejected thee from being king.

²⁴And Saul said unto Samuel, ^dI have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I ^efeared the people, and obeyed their voice. ²⁵Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. ²⁶And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: ^ffor thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. ²⁷And as Samuel turned about to go away, ^ghe laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. ²⁸And Samuel said unto him, ^hThe 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. ²⁹And also the ^||Strength of Israel ⁱwill not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. ³⁰Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and ^jturn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. ³¹So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.

³²Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. ³³And Samuel said, ^kAs thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And ^lSamuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in ^mGilgal.