4 Saul gathered the army together at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 other men, including the men from Judah.
5 Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and waited in the valley.
6 He said to the Kenites, “Go away! Leave the Amalekites. Then I won’t destroy you with the Amalekites. You showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites.
7 Saul defeated the Amalekites. He fought them and chased them all the way from Havilah to Shur, at the border of Egypt.
8 Agag was the king of the Amalekites. Saul captured Agag alive. Saul let Agag live, but he killed all the men in Agag’s army.
9 Saul and the Israelite soldiers felt bad about destroying everything. So they let Agag live. They also kept the fat cattle, the best sheep, and the lambs. They kept everything that was worth keeping. They didn’t want to destroy those things. They destroyed only what was not worth keeping.
10 Then Samuel received this message from the Lord: