The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

Samuel said unto Saul: 'The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. ²Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. ³Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.'

      ⁴And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶And Saul said unto the Kenites: 'Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.' So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ⁷And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is in front of Egypt. ⁸And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹But Saul and 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.

      ¹⁰Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying: ¹¹'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 Lord all night. ¹²And 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.' ¹³And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him: 'Blessed be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.' ¹⁴And Samuel said: 'What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' ¹⁵And 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 Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.' ¹⁶Then Samuel said unto Saul: 'Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night.' And he said unto him: 'Say on.'

      ¹⁷And Samuel said: 'Though thou be little in thine own sight, art thou not head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel; ¹⁸and the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said: Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. ¹⁹Wherefore then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?' ²⁰And Saul said unto Samuel: 'Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.' ²²And Samuel said:

      'Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices,As in hearkening to the voice of the Lord?Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,And to hearken than the fat of rams.²³For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,And stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim.

      Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.' ²⁴And Saul said unto Samuel: 'I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words; because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice. ²⁵Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.' ²⁶And Samuel said unto Saul: 'I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.' ²⁷And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. ²⁸And Samuel said unto him: 'The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. ²⁹And also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent.' ³⁰Then he said: 'I have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.' ³¹So Samuel returned after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.

      ³²Then said Samuel: 'Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.' And Agag came unto him in chains. And Agag said: 'Surely the bitterness of death is at hand.' ³³And Samuel said:

      As thy sword hath made women childless,So shall thy mother be childless among women.

      And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

      ³⁴Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeath-shaul. ³⁵And Samuel never beheld Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul; and the Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel.

      16And the Lord said unto Samuel: 'How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided Me a king among his sons.' ²And Samuel said: 'How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me.' And the Lord said: 'Take a heifer with thee, and say: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. ³And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will tell thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee.' ⁴And Samuel did that which the Lord spoke, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said: 'Comest thou peaceably?' ⁵And he said: 'Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.' And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. ⁶And it came to pass, when they were come, that he beheld Eliab, and said: 'Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him.' ⁷But the Lord said unto Samuel: 'Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for it is not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.' ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said: 'Neither hath the Lord chosen this.' ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said: 'Neither hath the Lord chosen this.' ¹⁰And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'The Lord hath not chosen these.' ¹¹And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'Are here all thy children?' And he said: 'There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.' And Samuel said unto Jesse: 'Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither.' ¹²And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of beautiful eyes, and goodly to look upon. And the Lord said: 'Arise, anoint him; for this is he.' ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

      ¹⁴Now the spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrified him. ¹⁵And Saul's servants said unto him: 'Behold now, an evil spirit from God terrifieth thee. ¹⁶Let our lord now command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp; and it shall be, when the evil spirit from God cometh upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.' ¹⁷And Saul said unto his servants: 'Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.' ¹⁸Then answered one of the young men, and said: 'Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valour, and a man of war, and prudent in affairs, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.' ¹⁹Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said: 'Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.' ²⁰And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer. ²²And Saul sent to Jesse, saying: 'Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.' ²³And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from