1 SAMUEL also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3 Now go and smite Amalek, [The Amalekites were descendants of Esau] and utterly destroy all that they have, [ Samuel approaches Saul and commissions him to fulfill the prediction of Ex. 17:14, namely to utterly annihilate the Amalekites. Note the explicit nature of the command. Let's see how well Saul listens now...] and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.[ Destroy everything - just so we are clear here, that means man, woman, child, ox, sheep, camel, and asses - so there is no excuse as to what to destroy. What is the wisdom in the Lord to destroy everything? 1) If you leave some corruption spreads, 2) if t here are no spoils or war then you don't attack to get gain, only for the Lords purpose.]

4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

6 ¶ And Saul said unto the Kenites, [ The Kenites were an ancient people. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a Kenite. Hobab his son (if the same person be not meant) was guide to the Hebrews through the wilderness. They had a portion of the promised land, near to the city Arad. ] Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed 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 fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. [ While Saul has previously made some rather stupid mistakes we could give him credit and assume that they are just exactly that just dumb mistakes. Now he has created an act of deliberate rebellion. interesting to note that one of the reasons for the Lords command to destroy everything is so that there are no rewards for the succes, no plunderings, no advances from the spoils of war. They undertook the act of war as a sense of duty, without any hope of enriching themselves. If the people do not prosper then from the battle or wars, if there are no spoils then they will fight the war for the right reason only, because the Lord commanded. And when the have completed the command they will not keep going, taking on the offensive strickly for the spoils of war. Do we ever justify in our own minds not fully obeying the Lord's command? What excuses do we use? “It’s just a little sin,” “I’m obeying the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law,” “It won’t hurt anyone,” “I’ll try it just once,” “Other people are doing it,” or “That commandment doesn’t apply to me.” How can doing something so simple be so harmful? ]

10 ¶ Then 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.

12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, [ Saul's pride continues to grow - "he erects a monument for himself". some say it was a monument; others, a triumphal arch, some say it may have just been the act of the hand pointing to the place.] and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. [ The place where the Children of Israel built the monument when they crossed the river jordan. ]

13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: [Saul knows he has not done right and trys to flatter up Samuel] I have performed the commandment of the LORD. [Saul trys to avoid Samuel asking the question of did you do as you were commanded. By making a general statement - that he had completed the job, thus avoiding being put on the spot.]

14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? [Sauls still has not caught on that Samuel is a prophet and as such is doing the will of God, and as such he will not buy into the flattery, and as such asks then question to which he knows the answer. Pointing to the fact that he can hear and see the sheep he was told to utterly destroy]

15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared [hey man I had nothing to do with it...it was the people who would not obey] the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said [Samuel is not impressed and is there on an errand - now Saul is to hear what the Lord wants him to know] to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? [Saul who made thee great? It was the Lord, remember how shy you were? From where did you get your power?]

18 And 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.

19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, [Samuel accuses Saul of wanting the spoils of war more than to fulfill the command of the Lord] and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? [he did not obey - he thought he was smarter I guess - do we ever think that way?]

20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed 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.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, [ In otherwords some laws are more important than others! this is the entire crux of the matter. Do we do want we are commanded, or do we exchange the rules for ourselves? this simple quote which equates rebellion with idolatry. Sacrifice to who or what at this point? The Lord had already given a command to utterly destroy, the sacrifice then would have been to whom - certainly not the Lord. Broken down "To obey": to follow the Lord - "Better than Sacrifice": to worship idols...] and to hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. [ How is stbbornness, the unwillingness to follow the Lord's command idolatry? If we are being stubborn who are we really following? we have set another master in place of God, that master being either ourselves because of pride, or some other God or master. How are we then idolater's when we choose not to obey them commands of God? How does this relate to the phrase "Man cannot serve two masters"? See D&C 64:34 the Lord "requireth the heart and a willing mind".] Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. [Saul still does not get it - the Lord has rejected him not Samuel, Samuel is only the messenger - So he will try to persuade Samuel to change his mond. "And so I repeat, do not let pride stand in your way. The way of the gospel is a simple way. some of the requirements may appear to you as elementary and unnecessary. Do not spurn them. Humble yourself and walk in obedience. I promise that the results that follow will be marvelous to behold and satisfying to experience. Gordon B. Hinckley, Be Thou an Example, p. 68. Self-justification is the enemy of repentance. God s Spirit continues with the honest in heart to strengthen, to help, and to save, but invariably the Spirit of God ceases to strive with the man who excuses himself in his wrongdoing. Practically all dishonesty owes its existence and growth to this inward distortion we call selfjustification. It is the first, the worst, and the most insidious and damaging form of cheating to cheat oneself. Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 234"]

24 ¶ And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: [notice how much blame he is taking for his "SINS" when he follows right after with because the people made me do it. In otherwords my sin is not in not doing what the Lord asked but in doing what the people wanted.] for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. [ If the first excuse did not work, they were kept for sacrifice - let's try a different angle. So his next attempt for an excuse is that he feared the people. so his excuse now is that he feared the people more than he feared the Lord. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut. Shows that Saul is getting desparate. ] [In fire there are 3 elements: Oxygen, fuel, heat. In fraud there are three elements: Opportunity, Pressure or motive, Rationalization. In sin there are three elements. Opportunity, temptation, rationalization. Remove one or more of these elements and you won't sin]

25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, [ Literally, "bear my sin; take it away" - he wants a quick fix now! ] and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.

26 And 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 [ Samuel points out that it is not he that has rejected Saul - but rather the Lords that has rejected him] from being king over Israel.

27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. [it would appear as if this was more than just a simple tug but rather a possible enraged action caused by anger or frustration.]

28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee [Samuel uses this as a type for the separation of the Kingdom of Israel from Saul] this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie [ Notice the implication that Saul might be a liar - one who changes the story to fit his needs - and then says that is not how the King of Israel should act! ] nor repent: [ says something of Sauls attitude - that even at this point he is really not truely repenatant . Why? because he is still trying to lie, still making excuses to justify his actions. ] for he is not a man, that he should repent. [the Lord is not persuded as a man, and he does not change as a man - but has made his decision. , and that God does not act that way.]

30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, [a little more humble confession now!] I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.

31 so Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.

32 ¶ Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. [JPS renders it "Ah, bitter death is at hand"]

33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces [ Samuel goes on to humiliate Saul by executing Agag on the spot, he completes that which Saul was commanded to do. Samuel was acting as the Lord's judge when he executed Agag, and that he had the Lord's approval for doing so. It may also indicate it occurred before the Ark of the Covenant, as Saul apparently had the Ark with him cf. 14:18. ] before the LORD in Gilgal.

34 ¶ Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: [Samuel leaves Saul and never sees him again alive.] nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: [Samuel laments Saul's fall from grace] and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.