1 Samuel 15:1-17

1Samuel said to Saul, ‘The Lord sent me to anoint you as king to rule his people, the Israelites. So now listen to this message from the Lord.

2This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It is time to punish the Amalekites! When the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them.

3Now go and attack the Amalekites. Completely destroy everything that they have. Do not save anything. Kill the men and women, as well as their children and babies. Kill their cows, sheep, camels and donkeys.” ’

4So Saul called his army to come together. The men met at Telaim and Saul counted them. There were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and another 10,000 men from Judah's tribe.

5Saul and his army went to the city of the Amalekites. They waited in a small valley to attack their enemy.

6Saul said to the Kenite people, ‘Go away from here! I will kill the Amalekites, but I do not want to kill you. You were kind to the Israelites when they came out from Egypt.’ So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites. He fought them all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

8Saul caught their king, Agag, while he was still alive. Saul's soldiers used their swords to kill all of Agag's people.

9But Saul and the army let King Agag live. Also, they did not kill the best sheep, lambs, cows and fat calves. They kept all the good things and they did not agree to destroy them. But they killed everything that was weak and useless.

10Then the Lord gave this message to Samuel:

11‘I am sorry that I chose Saul to be king. He has turned away from me. He has not obeyed my commands.’ When Samuel heard that, he was very upset. He prayed aloud to the Lord all that night.

12Samuel got up early the next morning. He went to meet Saul. Someone told Samuel, ‘Saul went to Carmel. He has put up a tall stone to give himself honour. Now he has left there and he has gone to Gilgal.’

13Samuel went and he found Saul. Saul said to Samuel, ‘I pray that the Lord will bless you. I have obeyed the Lord's command.’

14But Samuel said, ‘If that is true, why can I hear the noise of sheep and cows?’

15Saul answered, ‘My soldiers took them from the Amalekites. They saved the best sheep and cows. They will offer them to the Lord your God as sacrifices. We killed all the other animals.’

16Samuel said to Saul, ‘Listen to me! I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.’ Saul said, ‘Tell me.’

17Samuel said, ‘At one time, you thought that you were not an important person. Now you have become the leader of all the tribes of Israel. The Lord chose you to be king of Israel.