Saul Rejected as King

1Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken you unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

2Thus says 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.

3Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

4And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

5And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

6And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7And Saul struck down the Amalekites from Havilah until you come to Shur, that is east of Egypt.

8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9But 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 everything that was despised and worthless, that they destroyed utterly.

10Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

11It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

12And 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 has gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.

13And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be you of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

14And Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

15And 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 your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

16Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what the LORD has said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

17And Samuel said, When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you king over Israel?

18And the LORD sent you on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.

19Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but did pounce upon the spoil, and did evil in the sight of the LORD?

20And 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.

21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD your God in Gilgal.

22And Samuel said, has 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.

23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.

Saul's Confession of Sin

24And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

25Now therefore, I pray you, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.

26And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with you: for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.

27And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it tore.

28And Samuel said unto him, The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

29And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

30Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.

31So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped the LORD.

32Then said Samuel, Bring you here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him cautiously. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

33And Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

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

35And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.