1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to ^zanoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted ^awhat Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 ^bNow go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction¹ all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both ^cman and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the ^dKenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul ^edefeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took ^fAgag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves² and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.