1 Samuel 15:20–28

²⁰Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the ¹mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

²¹“But ^athe people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²²Samuel said,

“^aHas the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, ^bto obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

²³“For rebellion is as the sin of ^adivination,

And insubordination is as ^biniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

^cHe has also rejected you from being king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “^aI have sinned; ^bI have indeed transgressed the ¹command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.

²⁵“Now therefore, ^aplease pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for ^ayou have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

²⁷As Samuel turned to go, ^aSaul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.

²⁸So Samuel said to him, “^aThe Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.