1 Then Samuel said to Saul: It was I whom
Jehovah sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel, and now listen to the
voice of the words of Jehovah.
2 This is what Jehovah of armies has said, 'I
must call to account what Amalek did to Israel when he set himself against him
in the way while he was coming up out of Egypt.
3 Now go, and you must strike down Amalek and
devote him to destruction with all that he has, and you must not have compassion
upon him, and you must put them to death, man as well as woman, child as well as
suckling, bull as well as sheep, camel as well as ass.'
4 Accordingly Saul summoned the people and
took the count of them in Telaim [lambs], 200,000 men on foot and 10,000 men of Judah.
5 And Saul proceeded to come as far as the
city of Amalek and to lie in ambush by the torrent valley.
6 Meanwhile Saul said to the Kenites: Go
depart, go down from the midst of the Amalekites, that I may not sweep you away
with them. As for you, you exercised loving-kindness with all the sons of Israel
at the time of their coming up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from the
midst of Amalek.
7 After that Saul went striking down Amalek
from Havilah as far as Shur, which is in front of Egypt.
8 And he got to catch Agag,
king of Amalek,
alive, and all the other people he devoted to destruction with the edge of the
sword.
9 But Saul and the people had compassion upon
Agag and upon the best of the flock and the herd and the fat ones and upon the
rams and upon all that was good, and they did not wish to devote them to
destruction. As for all the goods that were despicable and rejected, these they
devoted to destruction.
10 The word of Jehovah now came to Samuel,
saying:
11 I do regret that I have caused Saul
to reign as king, because he has turned back from following me, and my words he
has not carried out. And it was distressing to Samuel, and he kept crying out to
Jehovah all night long.
12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul in
the morning. But report was made to Samuel, saying: Saul came to Carmel, and,
look! he was erecting a monument for himself, and he then turned around and went
across and descended to Gilgal.
13 At length Samuel came to Saul, and Saul
began to say to him: Blessed are you of Jehovah. I have carried out the word of
Jehovah.
14 But Samuel said: Then what does this sound
of the flock in my ears mean, and the sound of the herd that I am hearing?
15 To this Saul said: From the Amalekites
they have brought them, because the people had compassion upon the best of the
flock and of the herd, for the purpose of sacrificing to Jehovah your God; but
what was left over we have devoted to destruction.
16 At this Samuel said to Saul: Stop! And I
will tell you what Jehovah spoke to me last night. So he said to him: Speak!
17 And Samuel went on to say: Was it not when
you were little in your own eyes that you were head of the tribes of Israel, and
Jehovah proceeded to anoint you as king over Israel?
18 Later Jehovah sent you on a mission and
said, 'Go, and you must devote the sinners, the Amalekites, to destruction, and
you must fight against them until you will have exterminated them.'
19 So why is it you did not obey the voice of
Jehovah but went darting greedily at the spoil and doing what was bad in the
eyes of Jehovah?
20 However, Saul said to Samuel: But I have
obeyed the voice of Jehovah in that I went on the mission on which Jehovah had
sent me and I brought Agag the king of Amalek, but Amalek I have devoted to
destruction.
21 And the people went taking from the spoil
sheep and cattle, the choicest of them as something devoted to destruction, to
sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gilgal.
22 In turn Samuel said: Does Jehovah have as
much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of
Jehovah? Look! To obey is better than a sacrifice, to pay attention than the fat
of rams;
23 for rebelliousness is the same as the sin
of divination, and pushing ahead presumptuously the same as [using] uncanny
power and teraphim [Saul chose to listen to
his wife, his subjects, rather than his God. He became a democrat rather than a
theocrat. And Satan would have incited the people to disobey the word of God. So
Saul was actually worshipping an unclean spirit]. Since you have
rejected the word of Jehovah, he accordingly rejects you from being king.
24 Then Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned;
for I have overstepped the order of Jehovah and your words, because I feared the
people and so obeyed their voice.
25 And now, please, pardon my sin and return
with me that I may prostrate myself to Jehovah.
26 But Samuel said to Saul: I shall not
return with you, for you have rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah rejects
you from continuing as king over Israel.
27 As Samuel was turning about to go, he
immediately grabbed hold of the skirt of his sleeveless coat, but it ripped
away.
28 At this Samuel said to him: Jehovah has
ripped away the royal rule of Israel from off you today, and he will certainly
give it to a fellowman of yours who is better than you.
29 And, besides, the Excellency of Israel
will not prove false, and He will not feel regrets/repentant, for He is not an
earthling man so as to feel regrets/repentant.
30 At this he said: I have sinned. Now honor
me, please, in front of the older men of my people and in front of Israel and
return with me, and I shall certainly prostrate myself to Jehovah your God.
31 So Samuel returned behind Saul, and Saul
proceeded to prostrate himself to Jehovah.
32 After that Samuel said: Bring Agag the
king of Amalek near to me. Then Agag went to him reluctantly, and Agag began to
say to himself: Truly the bitter experience of death has departed.
33 However, Samuel said: Just as your sword
has bereaved women of children, in that way your mother will be most bereaved of
children among women. With that Samuel went hacking Agag to pieces before
Jehovah in Gilgal.
34 Samuel now went his way to Ramah, and
Saul, for his part, went up to his own house at Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until
the day of his death, because Samuel had gone into mourning for Saul. As for
Jehovah, he regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel (1 Samuel
15).