Page:JPS-1917-Universal.djvu/365

Rh 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.

Then came the word of the unto Samuel, saying: '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  all night. And 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.' And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him: 'Blessed be thou of the ; I have performed the commandment of the .' And Samuel said: 'What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' And 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 thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.' Then Samuel said unto Saul: 'Stay, and I will tell thee what the  hath said to me this night.' And he said unto him: 'Say on.'

And Samuel said: 'Though thou be little in thine own sight, art thou not head of the tribes of Israel? And the anointed thee king over Israel; and the  sent thee on a journey, and said: Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the ?' And Saul said unto Samuel: 'Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the , and have gone the way which the sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the thy God in Gilgal.' And Samuel said:


 * 'Hath the as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices,
 * As in hearkening to the voice of the ?
 * Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
 * And to hearken than the fat of rams.
 * For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
 * And stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim.

Because thou hast rejected the word of the, He hath also rejected thee from being king.' And Saul said unto Samuel: 'I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the , and thy words; because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the .' And Samuel said unto Saul: 'I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the, and the hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.' And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him: 'The hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And also the Glory of Israel will