8. And he caught Ag̅ag̅ sovereign of the Amalĕqites alive, and put under the ban all the people with the edge of the sword.
9. But Sha’ul and the people spared Ag̅ag̅ and the best of the sheep, and the cattle, and the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not put them under the ban. But all goods despised and worthless, that they put under the ban.
10. And the word of יהוה came to Shemu’ĕl, saying,
11. “I am grieved that I have set up Sha’ul as sovereign, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My words.” And it displeased Shemu’ĕl, and he cried to יהוה all night.
12. And Shemu’ĕl rose early in the morning to meet Sha’ul, and it was told to Shemu’ĕl, saying, “Sha’ul went to Karmel, and see, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and passed over, and went down to Gilgal.”
13. And Shemu’ĕl came to Sha’ul, and Sha’ul said to him, “Blessed are you of יהוה! I have performed the word of יהוה.”
14. But Shemu’ĕl said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear?”
15. And Sha’ul said, “They have brought them from Amalĕq, because the people spared the best of the sheep and the cattle, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim. And the rest we have put under the ban.”
16. And Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “Wait, and let me declare to you what יהוה said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
17. And Shemu’ĕl said, “Though you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl? And did not יהוה anoint you sovereign over Yisra’ĕl?
18. “And יהוה sent you on the way, and said, ‘Go, and you shall put under the ban the sinners, the Amalĕqites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
19. “And why did you not obey the voice of יהוה, but swooped down on the spoil, and did evil in the eyes of יהוה?”
20. And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I did obey the voice of יהוה, and I went on the way on which יהוה sent me, and brought back Ag̅ag̅ sovereign of Amalĕq, and I put Amalĕq under the ban.
21. “But the people took of the spoil, of the sheep and cattle, the best of that which should have been put under the ban, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim in Gilgal.”