1 Samuel 15 - Israeli Authorized Version

¹ Shmuel also said unto Saul, YY sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Yisrael: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of YY .

² Thus saith YY -TZvaot, I remember that which Amalek did to Yisrael, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

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 Yhudah.

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

⁶ And Saul said unto the Kenis, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Yisrael, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenis departed from among the Amalekites.

⁷ And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

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 YY unto Shmuel, saying,

¹¹ It repenteth me 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 Shmuel; and he cried unto YY all night.

¹² And when Shmuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Shmuel, 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 Shmuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of YY : I have performed The Commandment of YY .

¹⁴ And Shmuel 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 YY thy Elohim; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

¹⁶ Then Shmuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what YY hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

¹⁷ And Shmuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Yisrael, and YY anointed thee king over Yisrael?

¹⁸ And YY sent thee 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 thou not obey the voice of YY , but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of YY ?

²⁰ And Saul said unto Shmuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of YY , and have gone the way which YY 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 YY thy Elohim in Gilgal.

²² And Shmuel said, Hath YY as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of YY ? 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 thou hast rejected the word of YY , he hath also rejected thee from being king.

²⁴ And Saul said unto Shmuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed The Commandment of YY , and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

²⁵ Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship YY .

²⁶ And Shmuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of YY , and YY hath rejected thee from being king over Yisrael.

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

²⁸ And Shmuel said unto him, YY hath rent the kingdom of Yisrael from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

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 honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Yisrael, and turn again with me, that I may worship YY thy Elohim.

³¹ So Shmuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped YY .

³² Then said Shmuel, Bring ye 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 Shmuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Shmuel hewed Agag in pieces before YY in Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Shmuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Givah of Saul.

³⁵ And Shmuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Shmuel mourned for Saul: and YY repented that he had made Saul king over Yisrael.