Saul's Disobedience

(Leviticus 20:1-9; Leviticus 26:14-39; Deuteronomy 28:15-68; 1 Kings 13:11-34)

1Samuel also said to Saul, the LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou to the voice of the words of the LORD. 2Thus 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. 3Now 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.

4And Saul assembled the people, 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 to the Kenites, Go, depart, withdraw yourselves from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah, until thou comest to Shur, that is over against 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 every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

Samuel Denounces Saul

10Then came the word of the LORD to Samuel, saying, 11I repent 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 to 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 to him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. 14And Samuel said, What meaneth 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 to the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.

17And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thy own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 18And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. 19Why 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?

20And Saul said to 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 chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

22And 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.

23For 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.

Saul's Confession

24And Saul said to 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. 25Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. 26And Samuel said to 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. 27And as Samuel turned about to depart, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28And Samuel said to him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou. 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 thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. 31So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped the LORD.

32Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came to him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 33And 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.

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 repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.