¹⁷Samuel said, “Although you were once small^u in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder^v and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

²⁰“But I did obey^w the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²²But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice,^x

and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination,^y

and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected^z the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as king.”

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned.^a I violated^b the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid^c of the men and so I gave in to them.

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.”

Cross references

uSee Ex 3:11
vSee Ge 14:23; See 1 Sa 14:32
w 1 Sa 28:18
x Ps 40:6–8; 51:16; Pr 21:3; Isa 1:11–15; Jer 7:22; Hos 6:6; Am 5:25; Mic 6:6–8; See Mk 12:33
y Dt 18:10
zSee 1 Sa 13:13
aSee Ex 9:27; See Nu 22:34; Ps 51:4
bSee 1 Sa 13:13
c Pr 29:25; Isa 51:12–13; Jer 42:11