¹ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD to the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

³ Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe yourselves with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

⁴ The diseased ye have not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

⁵ And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became food to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

⁶ My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yes, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek for them.

⁷ Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

⁸ As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became food to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

⁹ Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.

¹¹ For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I even I, will both search for my sheep, and seek them out.

¹² As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

¹³ And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

¹⁴ I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵ I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁶ I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

¹⁷ And as for you, O my flock, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats.

¹⁸ Seemeth it a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drank of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

¹⁹ And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

²⁰ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD to them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

²¹ Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;

²² Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

²³ And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

²⁴ And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

²⁵ And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

²⁶ And I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.

²⁷ And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that subjected them to service.

²⁸ And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.

²⁹ And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.

³⁰ Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the LORD God.

³¹ And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.

¹ Samuel said to Saul, "Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the words of Yahweh.

² Thus says Yahweh of Armies, 'I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.

³ Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"

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

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

⁶ Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

⁷ Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.

⁸ 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 cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

¹⁰ Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying,

¹¹ "It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments." Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.

¹² Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal."

¹³ Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, "You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh."

¹⁴ Samuel said, "Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?"

¹⁵ Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest."

¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me last night." He said to him, "Say on."

¹⁷ Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;

¹⁸ and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'

¹⁹ Why then didn't you obey the voice of Yahweh, but took the spoils, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?"

²⁰ Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh 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 cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal."

²² Samuel said, "Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

²³ For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king."

²⁴ Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

²⁵ Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh."

²⁶ Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel."

²⁷ As Samuel turned about to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.

²⁸ Samuel said to him, "Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

²⁹ Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent."

³⁰ Then he said, "I have sinned: yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God."

³¹ So Samuel went back with Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh.

³² Then Samuel said, "Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites!" Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."

³³ Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!" Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.

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

³⁵ Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.