¹⁷Samuel said, “Once you didn’t think much of yourself, but now you have become the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord appointed you to be king over Israel. ¹⁸And he sent you on a mission. He said, ‘Go and destroy those evil people, the Amalekites. Make war on them until all of them are dead.’ ¹⁹Why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you take the best things? Why did you do what the Lord said was wrong?”

²⁰Saul said, “But I did obey the Lord. I did what the Lord told me to do. I destroyed all the Amalekites, and I brought back Agag their king. ²¹The soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²²But Samuel answered,

“What pleases the Lord more:

burnt offerings and sacrifices

or obedience to his voice?

It is better to obey than to sacrifice.

It is better to listen to God than to offer the fat of sheep.

²³Disobedience is as bad as the sin of sorcery.

Pride is as bad as the sin of worshiping idols.

You have rejected the Lord’s command.

Now he rejects you as king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I didn’t obey the Lord’s commands and your words. I was afraid of the people, and I did what they said. ²⁵Now, I beg you, forgive my sin. Come back with me so I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶But Samuel said to Saul, “I won’t go back with you. You rejected the Lord’s command, and now he rejects you as king of Israel.”

²⁷As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught his robe, and it tore. ²⁸Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors who is better than you. ²⁹The Lord is the Eternal One of Israel. He does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being, so he does not change his mind.

³⁰Saul answered, “I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the elders of my people and in front of the Israelites. Come back with me so that I can worship the Lord your God.” ³¹So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.”

Agag came to Samuel in chains, but Agag thought, “Surely the threat of death has passed.”

³³Samuel said to him, “Your sword made other mothers lose their children. Now your mother will have no children.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord 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.”