² This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says: I am going to punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel: how they attacked the Israelites as they came up from Egypt. ³ So go! Attack the Amalekites; put everything that belongs to them under the ban.^[a] Spare no one. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

⁴ Saul called out the troops and counted them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand more troops from Judah. ⁵ Then Saul advanced on the Amalekite city and laid an ambush in the valley. ⁶ Saul told the Kenites, “Get going! Leave the Amalekites immediately because you showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. Otherwise, I’ll destroy you right along with them.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites.

¹³ When Samuel reached Saul,^[a] Saul greeted him, “The Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”