1 Samuel 15:12-26

New International Version

¹² Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel.^(A) There he has set up a monument^(B) in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

¹³ When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

¹⁵ Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

¹⁶ “Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

¹⁷ Samuel said, “Although you were once small^(C) in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸ And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder^(D) and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

²⁰ “But I did obey^(E) the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²² But Samuel replied:

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned.^(I) I violated^(J) the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid^(K) of the men and so I gave in to them. ²⁵ Now I beg you, forgive^(L) my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶ But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected^(M) the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”