1 Samuel 15:20–28

²⁰And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, ^xI 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. ^21yBut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of ^dthe things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. ²²And Samuel said,

^zHath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, ^ato obey is better than sacrifice,

And to hearken than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is as the sin of ^†witchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity and ^bidolatry.

Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,

^cHe hath also rejected thee from being king.

²⁴And Saul said unto Samuel, ^dI have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I ^efeared the people, and obeyed their voice. ²⁵Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. ²⁶And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: ^ffor thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. ²⁷And as Samuel turned about to go away, ^ghe laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. ²⁸And Samuel said unto him, ^hThe Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.