1 Samuel 15:12-23

Holman Christian Standard Bible

¹²Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but it was reported to Samuel, “Saul went to Carmel^(A) where he set up a monument for himself. Then he turned around and went down to Gilgal.”^(B) ¹³When Samuel came to him, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you.^(C) I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

¹⁴Samuel replied, “Then what is this sound of sheep^[a] and cattle I hear?”

¹⁵Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord your God,^(D) but the rest we destroyed.”^(E)

¹⁶“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” he replied.

¹⁷Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant,^(F) have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel ¹⁸and then sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’ ¹⁹So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder^(G) and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”

²⁰“But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered.^[b] “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”^(H)

²²Then Samuel said:

Does the Lord^(I) take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?

Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.^(J)
²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination,^(K)
and defiance is like wickedness^(L) and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has rejected you as king.^(M)