the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young of the second birth, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but every thing that was of no account and feeble, that they destroyed utterly.
10Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying: 11'It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My commandments.' And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night. 12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying: 'Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he is setting him up a monument, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.' 13And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him: 'Blessed be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.' 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 the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.' 16Then Samuel said unto Saul: 'Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night.' And he said unto him: 'Say on.'
17And Samuel said: 'Though thou be little in thine own sight, art thou not head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel; 18and the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said: Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19Wherefore then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?' 20And Saul said unto Samuel: 'Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord 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 devoted things, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.' 22And Samuel said:
- 'Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices,
- As in hearkening to the voice of the Lord?
- 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 idolatry and teraphim.
Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.' 24And Saul said unto Samuel: 'I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words; because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice. 25Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.' 26And Samuel said unto Saul: 'I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.' 27And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. 28And Samuel said unto him: 'The Lord 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 Glory of Israel will
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