1 Samuel 15:19-21

Contemporary English Version

¹⁹Why didn't you listen to the Lord? Why did you keep the animals and make him angry?”

²⁰“But I did listen to the Lord!” Saul answered. “He sent me on a mission, and I went. I captured King Agag and destroyed his nation. ²¹All the animals were going to be destroyed^[a] anyway. That's why the army brought the best sheep and cattle to Gilgal as sacrifices to the Lord your God.”

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Footnotes

15.21 animals … destroyed: The Hebrew means things that were set aside for God. They could not be used for anything else, so they had to be destroyed.

1 Samuel 15:19-21

New International Version

¹⁹Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder^(A) and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

²⁰“But I did obey^(B) 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.”

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1 Samuel 15:19-21

English Standard Version

¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^(A)Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰And Saul said to Samuel, ^(B)“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹^(C)But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”