So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. Then he said to the Kenites,(A) “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites(B) all the way from Havilah to Shur,(C) near the eastern border of Egypt. He took Agag(D) king of the Amalekites alive,(E) and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared(F) Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves[a] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 15:9 Or the grown bulls; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.

So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.

Then Saul said to (A)the Kenites, (B)“Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For (C)you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. (D)And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from (E)Havilah all the way to (F)Shur, which is east of Egypt. (G)He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and (H)utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people (I)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

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