Saul’s Disobedience

1And Samuel said to Saul, “YHWH sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. And now listen to the voice of the words of YHWH. 2Thus says YHWH of Hosts: ‘I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid in wait for him on the way in his going up out of Egypt. 3Now go and strike the Amalekite, and utterly destroy† all that is unto him, and do not spare him, and kill from man to woman, and from infant to nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

4And Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and he lay in wait in the valley. 6And Saul said to the Kenite, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekite, lest I consume you with him. For you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel in their going up out of Egypt.”

And the Kenite departed from among the Amalekite,

7and Saul struck the Amalekite from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is on the face of Egypt. 8And He took Agag king of the Amalekite alive, and all the people he devoted to destruction with the mouth of the sword.

9And Saul and the people had pity on Agag, and on the best of the flock and of the herd and of the seconds,† and on the lambs, and on all that was good, and they were not willing to utterly destroy them, and all the work that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

Samuel Denounces Saul

10And the word of YHWH came to Samuel, saying, 11“I regret that Saul I have made reign as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and My commandments he has not performed.”

And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to YHWH all the night.

12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and it was declared to Samuel, saying, “Saul has come in to Carmel, and indeed, he has set up for himself a monument, and he has turned and passed over and gone down to Gilgal.”

13And Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of YHWH! I have performed the commandment of YHWH.”

14And Samuel said, “And what is this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the herd that I am hearing?”

15And Saul said, “From the Amalekite they have brought them, for the people spared the best of the flock and of the herd to sacrifice to YHWH your God, and the rest we devoted to destruction.”

16And Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet, and I will tell you what YHWH said to me in the night.”

And he said to him, “Speak.”

17And Samuel said, “Is it not that when you were small in your own eyes—the head of the tribes of Israel—then YHWH anointed you as king over Israel? 18And YHWH sent you in the way and said, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekite, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19And why did you not listened to the voice of YHWH, and why did you swoop down on the spoil and do the evil in the eyes of YHWH?”

20And Saul said to Samuel, “Because I have listened to the voice of YHWH and gone in the way that YHWH sent me and brought back Agag king of Amalek, and the Amalekite I have devoted to destruction. 21And the people took from the plunder sheep and oxen, the first part of the devoted thing, to sacrifice to YHWH your God in Gilgal.”

22And Samuel said,

“Has YHWH delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in listening to the voice of YHWH?

Behold, to listen is better than sacrifice,

and to heed than the fat of rams.

23For as the sin of witchcraft is rebellion,

and iniquity and teraphim is stubbornness,

because you have rejected the word of YHWH,

so He has rejected you as king.”

Saul’s Confession

24And Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of YHWH, and your words, because I feared the people and I listened to their voice. 25And now, please, lift up my sin and return with me, that I may worship YHWH.”

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

27And Samuel turned around to go away, and he laid hold of the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28And Samuel said to him, “YHWH has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and He has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 29And also the Glory of Israel does not lie and does not repent, for He is not a man, that He should repent.”

30And he said, “I have sinned; now honor me, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship YHWH your God.”

31And Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped YHWH.

32And Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag king of the Amalekite.”

And Agag came to him cheerfully.† And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.†”

33And Samuel said,

“As your sword has made childless women,

so Your mother shall be childless among women.”

And Samuel hacked to pieces Agag before the face of YHWH in Gilgal.

34And Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35And Samuel added not to see Saul until the day of his death; nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and YHWH regretted that Saul He had made king over Israel.

Footnotes:

3 Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to YHWH, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20, and 21.
9 Or the grown bulls or the fat calves
32 Or cautiously or in chains; see DSS and LXX.
32 Or “Surely this is the bitterness of death.” See DSS and LXX.