1. Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to appoint you king over Israel. Now listen to his message.
2. This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘When the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Amalekites tried to stop them from going to Canaan. So I will punish them.
3. Now go, attack the Amalekites and destroy everything they own as an offering to the Lord. Don’t let anything live. Put to death men and women, children and small babies, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”
4. So Saul called the army together at Telaim. There were two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah.
5. Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the ravine.
6. He said to the Kenites, “Go away. Leave the Amalekites so that I won’t destroy you with them, because you showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7. Then Saul defeated the Amalekites. He fought them all the way from Havilah to Shur, at the border of Egypt.
8. He took King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he killed all of Agag’s army with the sword.
9. Saul and the army let Agag live, along with the best sheep, fat cattle, and lambs. They let every good animal live, because they did not want to destroy them. But when they found an animal that was weak or useless, they killed it.
10. Then the Lord spoke his word to Samuel:
11. “I am sorry I made Saul king, because he has stopped following me and has not obeyed my commands.” Samuel was upset, and he cried out to the Lord all night long.
12. Early the next morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, “Saul has gone to Carmel, where he has put up a monument in his own honor. Now he has gone down to Gilgal.”
13. When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you! I have obeyed the Lord’s commands.”
14. But Samuel said, “Then why do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?”