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Saul's Disobedience

¹ Then Samuel said to Saul, "^(C1)The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the ^(F1)words of the LORD.² "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will ^(F1)punish Amalek ^(C1)for 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 ^(C1)utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but ^(C2)put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"

⁴ Then Saul summoned the people and ^(F1)numbered them in ^(C1)Telaim, 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 ^(C1)the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for ^(C2)you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.⁷ So ^(C1)Saul ^(F1)defeated the Amalekites, from ^(C2)Havilah as you go to ^(C3)Shur, which is ^(F2)east of Egypt.⁸ He captured ^(C1)Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ^(C2)utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.⁹ But Saul and the people ^(C1)spared 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.

Samuel Rebukes Saul

¹⁰ Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,¹¹ "^(C1)I regret that I have made Saul king, for ^(C2)he has turned back from ^(F1)following Me and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and ^(C3)cried out to the LORD all night.¹² Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to ^(C1)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on ^(F1)down to ^(C2)Gilgal."¹³ Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "^(C1)Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD."¹⁴ But Samuel said, "^(C1)What then is this ^(F1)bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the ^(F1)lowing of the oxen which I hear?"¹⁵ Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for ^(C1)the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed."¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!"

¹⁷ Samuel said, "Is it not true, ^(C1)though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel,¹⁸ and the LORD sent you on a ^(F1)mission, and said, '^(C1)Go 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 LORD, ^(C1)but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"

²⁰ Then Saul said to Samuel, "^(C1)I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the ^(F1)mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.²¹ "But ^(C1)the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal."²² Samuel said,

"^(C1)Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, ^(C2)to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

²³ "For rebellion is as the sin of ^(C1)divination,
And insubordination is as ^(C2)iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
^(C3)He has also rejected you from being king."

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, "^(C1)I have sinned; ^(C2)I have indeed transgressed the ^(F1)command of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.²⁵ "Now therefore, ^(C1)please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the LORD."²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for ^(C1)you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."²⁷ As Samuel turned to go, ^(C1)Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.²⁸ So Samuel said to him, "^(C1)The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.²⁹ "Also the ^(F1)(C1)Glory of Israel ^(C2)will 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; ^(C1)but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, ^(C2)that I may worship the LORD your God."³¹ So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

³² Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites." And Agag came to him ^(F1)cheerfully. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."³³ But Samuel said, "^(C1)As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to ^(C1)Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at ^(C2)Gibeah of Saul.^35 (C1)Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel ^(C2)grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.