¹⁷ Samuel said, “Even though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh has anointed you as king over Israel. ¹⁸ When Yahweh sent you on your way, he said to you: ‘Go! You must utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and you must fight against them until you^[a] have destroyed them.’ ¹⁹ Why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh and fall with shouting on the plunder? You have done evil in the sight of Yahweh!”