Not long after Saul was made king, God told him to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites, leaving none behind, not even flocks and herds, or anything that was theirs.
But though Saul went, and gained a great victory over them, he disobeyed God in the end; for he saved alive the king and the best of the flocks and herds, and all that was good, he kept.
Then the Lord sent Samuel to Saul. And Saul hastened to meet him with the words: "Blessed be thou of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord!"
But Samuel answered: "What meaneth then the bleating of sheep in my ears?"
And Saul answered: "The people spared the best of the flocks to sacrifice to the Lord."
And Samuel said to Saul: "Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night."
"When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made head over the tribes of Israel? 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.'"
"Wherefore then didst thou fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?"
"Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?"
"Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He also hath rejected thee from being king."