everything that is theirs.” But what in truth hast thou done? Why hast thou refused to obey the voice of the Lord? Why, like a ravenous bird from out of the mountains, didst thou swoop down upon the spoil and do that which is evil in his sight? By all the love I bear thee, I entreat thee to confess that thou hast sinned and to plead to him for mercy.’

A dark frown had gathered on Saul’s brow. His voice shook as with eyes averted he answered Samuel.

‘Thou dost me wrong,’ he said. ‘As the Lord commanded, I have obeyed. Did I not send couriers throughout the length and breadth of Israel, proclaiming a holy war? Was I of so little account and so cold in my zeal for Jehovah that none answered or lifted hand from the plough? Thou thyself knowest this to be false; for when the people heard my call, they left all to follow me. Two hundred thousand men of Israel and ten thousand men of Judah—for the glory of Israel they flocked to my standard. Did I pause or falter or parley with these accursed Amalekites? Not so; I marched with my armies against them and having won away with fair words the tribes of the Kenites from their alliance, I swept down upon them and utterly defeated them. The smouldering ruins of Amalek bear witness against thee. Only Agag, their king, did I save alive, and this but for proof that he who was the dread and terror of all Israel is now a mere cringing captive slave and at my mercy. How then canst thou rebuke me if the men of Israel in their lust for plunder spared a few of the enemy’s sheep and oxen, and these only the best and choicest, and destroyed—as I bade them—all else. They are but men. Wouldst thou deny them even that? How otherwise could they make fitting sacrifice to the Lord thy God, even here in his sacred place at Gilgal?’

Then said Samuel: ‘Thinkest thou the Lord God delights in sacrifices and offerings as much as he delights in them that humbly obey him? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to heed faithfully what he bids thee do is better than any gift on earth thou canst bring him of mere gold or jewels or any worldly treasure. Knowest thou not that rebellion against him is wicked as witchcraft, and a stubborn heart as blasphemous as the worship of idols? Hearken, now, for it is the Lord himself who speaks to thee. Because thou hast rejected him, he also hath rejected thee. As from nothing he raised thee up, so shall he abase thee. The day of thy downfall draws near, and thou shalt be king in his sight no longer.’

Saul rose vehemently, his armour clashing as he moved. He strode to the door of his tent. Except for the sentries on watch there, no one was near. He turned, his face transfixed with dread at the old man’s solemn maledictions, flung himself on his knees before him, and besought his forgiveness.

‘Take back thy words. Have pity on me,’ he cried. ‘I see now that I have sinned. I have in truth transgressed and done other than thou didst strictly bid me do. But it was not of my own will. I feared the people, and they prevailed against me. When, drunken with victory, the armies of Israel had driven in the plunder they had taken from the Amalekites, their flocks, their herds, how could I give orders that all should be destroyed. They would have risen in revolt against me; and in weakness I consented to do what they asked of me. I entreat thee now, by all the love and forbearance thou once didst show me, forgive this evil that I have done, and restore me to thy kindness as of old. Come with me even now, that we may pray together and give thanks to the Lord God for his victory in the presence of all Israel.’

But Samuel drew back from Saul as he knelt before him. ‘Nay,’ he said, ‘I will not go with thee. Nor will I show thee honour before the people. In thy pride and avarice thou hast wantonly rejected the Lord, and from this day forth he hath rejected thee also.’

He turned about to leave the king. In a frenzy of despair Saul seized the skirt of his outer mantle, and it was rent in his grasp. And Samuel’s wrath flamed against him.

‘Lo, now,’ he cried, ‘in fear of what men shall think of thee, thine own hand hath witnessed against thee! For this day hath the Lord rent the sceptre of Israel from thy grasp and shall give it to another who is better than thou. Thinkest thou that the Eternal, the glory of Israel, can be false to himself and turn aside from doing that on which he hath set his will? Thinkest thou the Lord is as man whom he created out of dust, whose heart changes with every wind that blows and who is never of the same mind from one day to another. He hath spoken; and this is the end between us.’