1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “A1 Sam 9:16; 10:1The Loʀᴅ sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the 1Lit sound of the wordswords of the Loʀᴅ. 2  “Thus says the Loʀᴅ of hosts, ‘I will 1Or visitpunish Amalek AEx 17:8-16; Num 24:20; Deut 25:17-19for 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 ANum 24:20; Deut 20:16-18; Josh 6:17-21utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but B1 Sam 22:19put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

4 Then Saul summoned the people and 1Lit musterednumbered them in AJosh 15:24Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. 6 Saul said to ANum 24:21; Judg 1:16; 4:11the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for BEx 18:9, 10; Num 10:29-32you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 So A1 Sam 14:48Saul 1Lit smotedefeated the Amalekites, from BGen 25:18Havilah as you go to CGen 16:7; Ex 15:22; 1 Sam 27:8Shur, which is 2Lit beforeeast of Egypt. 8 He captured ANum 24:7; 1 Sam 15:20; Esth 3:1Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and B1 Sam 27:8, 9; 30:1; 2 Sam 8:12utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people A1 Sam 15:3, 15, 19spared 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.

10 Then the word of the Loʀᴅ came to Samuel, saying, 11 “AGen 6:6, 7; Ex 32:14; 1 Sam 15:35; 2 Sam 24:16I regret that I have made Saul king, for BJosh 22:16; 1 Sam 13:13; 1 Kin 9:6, 7he has turned back from 1Lit afterfollowing Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and CEx 32:11-13; Luke 6:12cried out to the Loʀᴅ all night. 12 Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to AJosh 15:55; 1 Sam 25:2Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on 1Lit and went downdown to B1 Sam 13:12, 15Gilgal.” 13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “AGen 14:19; Judg 17:2; Ruth 3:10; 2 Sam 2:5Blessed are you of the Loʀᴅ! I have carried out the command of the Loʀᴅ.” 14 But Samuel said, “AEx 32:21-24What then is this 1Lit soundbleating of the sheep in my ears, and the 1Lit soundlowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for AGen 3:12, 13; Ex 32:22, 23; 1 Sam 15:9, 21the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Loʀᴅ your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Loʀᴅ said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”

17 Samuel said, “Is it not true, A1 Sam 9:21; 10:22though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Loʀᴅ anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Loʀᴅ sent you on a 1Lit waymission, and said, ‘A1 Sam 15:3Go 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 Loʀᴅ, A1 Sam 14:32but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Loʀᴅ?”

20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “A1 Sam 15:13I did obey the voice of the Loʀᴅ, and went on the 1Lit waymission on which the Loʀᴅ sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21  “But AEx 32:22, 23; 1 Sam 15:15the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Loʀᴅ your God at Gilgal.” 22 Samuel said,

24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “ANum 22:34; 2 Sam 12:13; Ps 51:4I have sinned; BProv 29:25; Is 51:12, 13I have indeed transgressed the 1Lit mouthcommand of the Loʀᴅ and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25  “Now therefore, AEx 10:17please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Loʀᴅ.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for A1 Sam 13:14; 16:1you have rejected the word of the Loʀᴅ, and the Loʀᴅ has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go, A1 Kin 11:30, 31Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, “A1 Sam 28:17, 18; 1 Kin 11:31The Loʀᴅ has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29  “Also the 1Or EminenceA1 Chr 29:11Glory of Israel BNum 23:19; Ezek 24:14; Titus 1:2will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; AJohn 5:44; 12:43but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, BIs 29:13that I may worship the Loʀᴅ your God.” 31 So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Loʀᴅ.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him 1Or in bondscheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 But Samuel said, “AGen 9:6; Judg 1:7; Matt 7:2As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Loʀᴅ at Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went to A1 Sam 7:17Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at B1 Sam 11:4Gibeah of Saul. 35 A1 Sam 19:24Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel B1 Sam 16:1grieved over Saul. And the Loʀᴅ regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.