1 And Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “יהוה sent me to anoint you sovereign over His people, over Yisra’ĕl. And now, listen to the voice of the words of יהוה.
2 “Thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘I shall punish Amalĕq for what he did to Yisra’ĕl, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up from Mitsrayim.
3 ‘Now go, and you shall smite Amalĕq and put under the ban all that he has, and you shall not spare them, and put to death from man to woman, from infant to nursing child, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey.’ ”
4 Then Sha’ul summoned the people and mustered them in Tela’im, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Yehuḏah.
5 And Sha’ul came to a city of Amalĕq, and lay in wait in the wadi.
6 And Sha’ul said to the Qĕynites, “Go, turn aside, come down from among the Amalĕqites, lest I destroy you with them. For you did show kindness to all the children of Yisra’ĕl when they came up out of Mitsrayim.” So the Qĕynites turned aside from the midst of the Amalĕqites.
7 And Sha’ul smote the Amalĕqites, from Ḥawilah all the way to Shur, which is before Mitsrayim.
8 And he caught Ag̅ag̅ sovereign of the Amalĕqites alive, and put under the ban all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Sha’ul and the people spared Ag̅ag̅ and the best of the sheep, and the cattle, and the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not put them under the ban. But all goods despised and worthless, that they put under the ban.
10 And the word of יהוה came to Shemu’ĕl, saying,
11 “I am grieved that I have set up Sha’ul as sovereign, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My words.” And it displeased Shemu’ĕl, and he cried to יהוה all night.
12 And Shemu’ĕl rose early in the morning to meet Sha’ul, and it was told to Shemu’ĕl, saying, “Sha’ul went to Karmel, and see, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and passed over, and went down to Gilgal.”
13 And Shemu’ĕl came to Sha’ul, and Sha’ul said to him, “Blessed are you of יהוה! I have performed the word of יהוה.”
14 But Shemu’ĕl said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear?”
15 And Sha’ul said, “They have brought them from Amalĕq, because the people spared the best of the sheep and the cattle, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim. And the rest we have put under the ban.”
16 And Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “Wait, and let me declare to you what יהוה said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
17 And Shemu’ĕl said, “Though you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl? And did not יהוה anoint you sovereign over Yisra’ĕl?
18 “And יהוה sent you on the way, and said, ‘Go, and you shall put under the ban the sinners, the Amalĕqites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
19 “And why did you not obey the voice of יהוה, but swooped down on the spoil, and did evil in the eyes of יהוה?”
20 And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I did obey the voice of יהוה, and I went on the way on which יהוה sent me, and brought back Ag̅ag̅ sovereign of Amalĕq, and I put Amalĕq under the ban.
21 “But the people took of the spoil, of the sheep and cattle, the best of that which should have been put under the ban, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim in Gilgal.”
22 Then Shemu’ĕl said, “Does יהוה delight in burnt offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying the voice of יהוה? Look, to obey is better than an offering, to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of יהוה, He also does reject you as sovereign.”
24 And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the command of יהוה and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.
25 “And now, please pardon my sin, and return with me, and let me bow myself to יהוה.”
26 But Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “I do not return with you, for you have rejected the word of יהוה, and יהוה does reject you from being sovereign over Yisra’ĕl.”
27 And as Shemu’ĕl turned around to go away, Sha’ul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
28 And Shemu’ĕl said to him, “יהוה has torn the reign of Yisra’ĕl from you today, and has given it to a neighbour of yours, better than you.
29 “Moreover, the Eminence of Yisra’ĕl does not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
30 Then he said, “I have sinned. But esteem me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Yisra’ĕl, and return with me, and I shall bow myself to יהוה your Elohim.”
31 And Shemu’ĕl turned back after Sha’ul, and Sha’ul bowed himself to יהוה.
32 And Shemu’ĕl said, “Bring Ag̅ag̅ sovereign of the Amalĕqites here to me.” So Ag̅ag̅ came to him delightedly, and Ag̅ag̅ said, “Truly, the bitterness of death has turned aside.”
33 And Shemu’ĕl said, “As your sword bereaved women, let your mother be bereaved among women too.” Shemu’ĕl then hewed Ag̅ag̅ to pieces before יהוה in Gilgal.
34 And Shemu’ĕl went to Ramah, while Sha’ul went up to his house at Giḇ‛ah of Sha’ul.
35 And Shemu’ĕl did not see Sha’ul again until the day of his death, for Shemu’ĕl mourned for Sha’ul. And יהוה was grieved that He had made Sha’ul to reign over Yisra’ĕl.