1 Samuel 15:8–33

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.

Samuel Rebukes Saul

¹⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,

¹¹“^aI regret that I have made Saul king, for ^bhe has turned back from ¹following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and ^ccried out to the Lord all night.

¹²Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to ^aCarmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on ¹down to ^bGilgal.”

¹³Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “^aBlessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.”

¹⁴But Samuel said, “^aWhat then is this ¹bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

¹⁵Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ^athe people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

¹⁷Samuel said, “Is it not true, ^athough you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel,

¹⁸and the Lord sent you on a ¹mission, and said, ‘^aGo and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’

¹⁹“Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, ^abut rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”

²⁰Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the ¹mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

²¹“But ^athe people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²²Samuel said,

“^aHas the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, ^bto obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

²³“For rebellion is as the sin of ^adivination,

And insubordination is as ^biniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

^cHe has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI have sinned; ^bI have indeed transgressed the ¹command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

²⁵“Now therefore, ^aplease pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for ^ayou have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

²⁷As Samuel turned to go, ^aSaul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.

²⁸So Samuel said to him, “^aThe Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

²⁹“Also the ^1aGlory of Israel ^bwill not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

³⁰Then he said, “I have sinned; ^abut please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, ^bthat I may worship the Lord your God.”

³¹So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him ¹cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³But Samuel said, “^aAs your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.