¹⁷Samuel 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. ¹⁸When 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 youⁱ have destroyed them.’ ¹⁹Why 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!” ²⁰Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have listened to the voice of Yahweh, and I have gone on the way that Yahweh sent me! I brought Agag the king of Amalek, and the Amalekites I have utterly destroyed. ²¹The troops took from the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal.”

²²Then Samuel said,

“Is there as much delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as there is in obeying^j Yahweh?

Look! To obey^k is better than sacrifice;

to give heed than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination;

arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh,

he has rejected you from being king!”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh^l and your words, for I feared the troops and I listened to their voice. ²⁵So then, please pardon my sin and return with me so that I can worship^m Yahweh.” ²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and he has rejected you from being king over Israel!”

²⁷As Samuel turned around to go, heⁿ caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸Then Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.^o ²⁹Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not break faith and will not regret, for he is not a human that he should regret.” ³⁰Then he^p said, “I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me so that I can worship^q Yahweh your God.” ³¹So Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul worshiped^r Yahweh.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of Amalek out to me!” Agag came to him confidently,^s for Agag thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is over.”^t

³³Samuel said,

“Just as your sword bereaved women,

so will your mother be bereaved among women!”

Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces in the presence of Yahweh at Gilgal.

Read in Logos

1 Samuel 15:22: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

Footnotes

iThe Masoretic Hebrew text reads “they”; LXX, Peshitta, and Targum read “you”
jLiterally “listening to the voice of”
kLiterally “Listening”
lLiterally “the mouth of Yahweh”
mLiterally “so that I can bow down to”
nThat is, Saul
oLiterally “the better than you”
pThat is, Saul
qLiterally “so that I can bow down to”
rLiterally “bowed down to”
sOr “trembling”; literally “in chains/bonds” (HALOT 609 s.v. 2); the meaning here is uncertain (LXX has “trembling”)
tLiterally “has turned aside”; other English versions follow the LXX and Peshitta and omit “has turned aside,” reading “Surely the bitterness of death!”