1 Samuel 15:14-35

14And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15And 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 Yhwh thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Yhwh hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. 17And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, And Yhwh anointed thee king over Israel? 18And Yhwh sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.1 19Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of Yhwh, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of Yhwh? 20And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of Yhwh, and have gone the way which Yhwh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto Yhwh thy God in Gilgal. 22And Samuel said, hath Yhwh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yhwh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of Yhwh, he hath also rejected thee from being king.2

24And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of Yhwh, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yhwh. 26And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of Yhwh, And Yhwh hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 27And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28And Samuel said unto him, Yhwh hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 29And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.3 30Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yhwh thy God. 31So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Yhwh.

32Then said Samuel, 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. 33And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Yhwh in Gilgal.

34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: And Yhwh repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.