10. Then came the Devar Hashem unto Shmuel, saying,
11. I greatly regret and relent and reconsider that I have set up Sha'ul to be Melech; for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My Devar. And it grieved Shmuel; and he cried out unto Hashem kol halailah.
12. And when Shmuel rose early to meet Sha'ul in the boker, it was told Shmuel, saying, Sha'ul came to Carmel, and, hinei, he set up a yad (hand, i.e. memorial, monument) for himself. And he turned and went down to Gilgal.
13. And Shmuel came to Sha'ul; and Sha'ul said unto him, Baruch atah l'Hashem; I have carried out the Devar Hashem.
14. And Shmuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the tzon (sheep) in mine ears, and the lowing of the bakar (cattle) which I hear?
15. And Sha'ul said, They have brought them from Amalek; for HaAm spared the best of the tzon and of the bakar, in order to sacrifice unto Hashem Eloheicha; and the rest we have destroyed in utter cherem desruction.
16. Then Shmuel said unto Sha'ul, Stop, and I will tell thee what Hashem hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17. And Shmuel said, When thou wast katon (little) in thine own eyes, wast thou not made the Rosh Shivtei Yisroel, and Hashem anointed thee Melech over Yisroel?
18. And Hashem sent thee baderech (on a mission), and said, Go destroy with utter cherem destruction the chatta'im (sinners), Amalek, and make war against them until they be consumed.
19. Why then didst thou not obey the voice of Hashem, but didst pounce upon the plunder, and didst harah (the evil) in the eyes of Hasham?
20. And Sha'ul said unto Shmuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Hashem, and have gone baderech (on the mission) which Hashem sent me, and have brought back Agag Melech Amalek, and have destroyed Amalek with utter cherem destruction.
21. But HaAm took of the plunder the tzon and bakar, the reshit of the cherem to sacrifice unto Hashem Eloheicha at Gilgal.
22. And Shmuel said, Hath Hashem as great chefetz (delight) in olot and zevakhim, as in obeying the voice of Hashem? Hinei, to obey is better than zevach (sacrifice), and to pay heed than the chelev eilim (fat of rams).
23. For meri (rebellion) is as the chattat (sin) of kesem (witchcraft, soothsaying, divination), and stubbornness is as heathenish iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the Devar Hashem, He hath also rejected thee from being Melech.