¹Samuel said to Saul, "It was me Yahweh sent to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel; and now, hear the voice of the word of Yahweh.

²Thus said Yahweh of hosts: I have visited what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against it in the way as it came up from Egypt.

³Now go and strike Amalek, devote to destruction all that belongs to it, and do not spare it; put to death man and woman, child and nursing infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

⁴Saul had the people told, and mustered them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand with the men of Judah.

⁵Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the wadi.

⁶Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, turn aside, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I take you away with them; for you showed loyal love to all the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites turned aside from among Amalek.

⁷Saul struck Amalek from Havilah as far as Shur, which lies facing Egypt.

⁸He seized Agag, the king of Amalek, alive, and devoted all the people to destruction with the edge of the sword.

⁹But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flock and the cattle, and the seconds and the lambs, and all that was good; they were not willing to devote them to destruction. But all the property that was despised and wasted, that they devoted it to destruction.

¹⁰The word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying:

¹¹I am sorry that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my words. Samuel burned with anger, and he cried out to Yahweh all night.

¹²Samuel started early to meet Saul in the morning; and Samuel was told, "Saul came to Carmel, and there, he is setting up a monument for himself! Then he turned about, passed on, and went down to Gilgal."

¹³Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you by Yahweh! I have carried out the word of Yahweh."

¹⁴Samuel said, "And what is this sound of the flock in my ears, and the sound of the cattle that I hear?"

¹⁵Saul said, "They brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the flock and the cattle, so as to sacrifice to Yahweh your God; but the rest we devoted to destruction."

¹⁶Samuel said to Saul, "Hold back, and let me tell you what Yahweh spoke to me last night." He said to him, "Speak."

¹⁷Samuel said, "Though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you as king over Israel.

¹⁸And Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, devote the sinners, Amalek, to destruction, and fight against them until you have made an end of them.'

¹⁹Why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh, but pounced on the plunder and did what is evil in the eyes of Yahweh?"

²⁰Saul said to Samuel, "But I listened to the voice of Yahweh; I went on the journey on which Yahweh sent me, and I brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and devoted Amalek to destruction.

²¹But the people took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the first of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal."

²²Samuel said, "Does Yahweh delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in hearing the voice of Yahweh? Look, to hear is better than sacrifice, to give heed than the fat of rams."

²³For rebellion is the sin of divination, and pressing ahead is wickedness and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king."

²⁴Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have passed beyond the mouth of Yahweh and your words, for I feared the people, and I listened to their voice.

²⁵And now, please take away my sin, and return with me, so that I may bow down to Yahweh."

²⁶Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel."

²⁷Samuel turned about to go, and he seized the wing of his robe, and it tore.

²⁸Samuel said to him, "Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

²⁹And also the Enduring One of Israel will not deal falsely and will not be sorry; for he is not a man that he should be sorry."

³⁰He said, "I have sinned; now honor me, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow down to Yahweh your God."

³¹Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul bowed down to Yahweh.

³²Samuel said, "Bring near to me Agag, king of Amalek." And Agag went to him in bonds. Then Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death has departed."

³³Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women." And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.

³⁴Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house, to Gibeah of Saul.

³⁵Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned over Saul; and Yahweh regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.