1 Samuel 15

1 And Samuel said to Saul, “It was I the Lord sent to anoint you king over Israel. So now listen to the voice of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord of armies says: Now I will take vengeance for what Amalek did to Israel, how he met him on the road as he was coming up out of Egypt. [a] 3 So go now, and you will strike Amalek and Jerim and everything that is his. You are to keep nothing of his alive. You are to destroy him and devote him to destruction, him and everything that is his, and you are to spare nothing of his; you are to put them all to death, from man to woman, from little child to nursing infant, from calf to sheep, from camel to donkey.” [b]

4 So Saul called out the people, and he counted them at Gilgal: four hundred thousand men in ranks, and thirty thousand men of Judah in ranks. [c] 5 And Saul came as far as the cities of Amalek and lay in wait in the streambed. 6 And Saul said to the Kenite, “Go away, turn aside from among the Amalekites, so that I do not sweep you up along with him — for you dealt in mercy with the children of Israel when they were coming up out of Egypt.” And the Kenite turned aside from among Amalek. 7 And Saul struck Amalek from Havilah as far as Shur, which faces Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and all the people, Jerim, he put to the sword. [d] 9 But Saul and all the people kept Agag alive, and the best of the flocks and of the herds, and the food and the vineyards and every good thing, and they were not willing to destroy them; but everything worthless and despised they destroyed.

10 And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I regret that I made Saul king, because he has turned back from following me and has not kept my words.” And Samuel lost heart, and he cried out to the Lord all night long. [e] 12 And Samuel rose early and went to meet Israel in the morning. And it was reported to Samuel, and they said, “Saul has come to Carmel, and he has set up a monument for himself, and has turned his chariot around.” And Samuel went down to Gilgal, to Saul; and there he was, offering up a whole burnt offering to the Lord, the first of the spoils he had brought from Amalek. [f]

13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you to the Lord. I have carried out everything the Lord said.” 14 And Samuel said, “Then what is this sound of a flock in my ears, and the sound of oxen that I am hearing?” 15 And Saul said, “I brought them from Amalek — what the people kept back, the best of the flock and of the oxen, so that it could be offered to the Lord your God. And the rest I destroyed.” 16 And Samuel said to Saul, “Stop. Let me tell you what the Lord said to me in the night.” And Saul said to him, “Speak.”

17 And Samuel said to Saul, “Are you not small in his sight, and yet head of a tribe of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, [g] 18 and the Lord sent you on a road and said to you, ‘Go and destroy those who sin against me, Amalek; and you are to make war on them until you have finished them.’ 19 So why did you not listen to the voice of the Lord? Why did you rush to lay hands on the spoils and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “It was because I listened to the voice of the people. I went the road the Lord sent me on, and I brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and I destroyed Amalek. 21 But the people took flocks and herds from the spoils, the best of what was to be destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God at Gilgal.”

24 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I went past the word of the Lord and your word — because I was afraid of the people, and I listened to their voice. 25 So now, take away my sin, please, and come back with me, and I will bow down to the Lord your God.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I am not coming back with you, because you have treated the word of the Lord as nothing, and the Lord will treat you as nothing, so that you will not be king over Israel.” 27 And Samuel turned his face away to go, and Saul caught hold of the corner of his cloak and tore it. [i] 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel out of your hand today, and he will give it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29 And Israel will be divided in two. And he will not turn back or have a change of heart, for he is not a man, that he should have a change of heart.” [j] 30 And Saul said, “I have sinned. But honor me, please, in front of the elders of Israel and in front of my people, and come back with me, and I will bow down to the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and he bowed down to the Lord. [k]

32 And Samuel said, “Bring me Agag the king of Amalek.” And Agag came to him trembling, and Agag said, “Is death as bitter as this?” 33 And Samuel said to Agag, “As your sword has left women without their children, so your mother will be left without her child among women.” And Samuel killed Agag before the Lord at Gilgal. 34 And Samuel went away to Ramathaim, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah. 35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, because Samuel mourned over Saul; and the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.