1 Samuel 15:1–9

Saul’s Disobedience

¹Then Samuel said to Saul, “^aThe Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the ¹words of the Lord.

²“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will ¹punish Amalek ^afor what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

³‘Now go and strike Amalek and ^autterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but ^bput to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

⁴Then Saul summoned the people and ¹numbered them in ^aTelaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.

⁵Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

⁶Saul said to ^athe Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for ^byou showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

⁷So ^aSaul ¹defeated the Amalekites, from ^bHavilah as you go to ^cShur, which is ²east of Egypt.

⁸He captured ^aAgag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ^butterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

⁹But Saul and the people ^aspared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.