“1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee [to be]
king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the
voice of the words of the LORD. 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I
remember [that] which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid [wait] for him
in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and
utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both
man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4 And
Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two
hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came
to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 6 And Saul said unto
the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I
destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of
Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from
among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah
[until] thou comest to Shur, that [is] over against Egypt. 8 And he took
Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the
people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared 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.”
“10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, 11 It
repenteth me that I have set up Saul [to be] king: for he is turned back
from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it
grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. 12 And when Samuel
rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul
came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about,
and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 13 And Samuel came to Saul: and
Saul said unto him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the
commandment of the LORD. 14 And Samuel said, What [meaneth] then this
bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I
hear? 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for
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. 16 Then
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. 17 And Samuel said,
When 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? 18 And 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. 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD,
but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I 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. 21 But the
people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which
should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God
in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold,
to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of
rams. 23 For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness
[is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of
the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.”
“24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed
the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people,
and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin,
and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. 26 And Samuel said
unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word
of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over
Israel. 27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the
skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28 And Samuel said unto him, The 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. 29 And also the
Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he [is] not a man, that
he should repent. 30 Then he said, I have sinned: [yet] honour me now, I
pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn
again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. 31 So Samuel turned
again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.”
“32 Then 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. 33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made
women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And
Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel
went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35 And
Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless
Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul
king over Israel.” (1 Samuel 15:1-35 AV)
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