1 Samuel 15

1 Shemuel also said unto Saul, “יהוה sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over Yisrael. Now therefore hearken you unto the voice of the words of יהוה.

2 Thus saith יהוה of hosts (YHWH Tsevaot): ‘I remember that which Amalek did to Yisrael, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt (Mitsrayim).

3 Now 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.

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

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

6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, “Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you shewed kindness to all the children of Yisrael, when they came up out of Egypt (Mitsrayim).” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until you comest to Shur, that is opposite Egypt (Mitsrayim).

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

9 But 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.

10 Then came the word of יהוה unto Shemuel, saying,

11 I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Shemuel; and he cried unto יהוה all night.

12 And when Shemuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Shemuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.”

13 And Shemuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, “Blessed be you of יהוה! I have performed the commandment of יהוה.”

14 And Shemuel said, “What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

15 And 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 יהוה your God (Elohim); and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

16 Then Shemuel said unto Saul, “Stay, and I will tell you what יהוה hath said to me this night.” And he said unto him, “Say on.”

17 And Shemuel said, “When you wast little in your own sight, wast you not made the head of the tribes of Yisrael, and יהוה anointed you king over Yisrael?

18 And יהוה sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.’

19 Wherefore then didst you not obey the voice of יהוה, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of יהוה?”

20 And Saul said unto Shemuel, “Yea, I have obeyed the voice of יהוה, and have gone the way which יהוה sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto יהוה your God (Elohim) in Gilgal.”

22 And Shemuel said, “Hath יהוה as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of יהוה? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of יהוה, He hath also rejected you from being king.”

24 And Saul said unto Shemuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of יהוה, and your words; because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship יהוה.”

26 And Shemuel said unto Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of יהוה, and יהוה hath rejected you from being king over Yisrael.”

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

28 And Shemuel said unto him, “יהוה hath rent the kingdom of Yisrael from you this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of yours, that is better than you.

29 And also the Strength of Yisrael will not lie nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent.

30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people, and before Yisrael, and turn again with me, that I may worship יהוה your God (Elohim).”

31 So Shemuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped יהוה.

32 Then said Shemuel, “Bring you hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

33 And Shemuel said, “As your sword hath made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Shemuel hewed Agag in pieces before יהוה in Gilgal.

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

35 And Shemuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; nevertheless Shemuel mourned for Saul; and יהוה regretted that He had made Saul king over Yisrael.