1 Samuel 15:16-23

15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! ¹  Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul ²  said to him, “Tell me.” 15:17 Samuel said, “Is it not true that when you were insignificant in your own eyes, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord chose ³  you as king over Israel. 15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign ⁴  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ⁵  have destroyed them.’ 15:19 Why haven’t you obeyed ⁶  the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord’s estimation.” ⁷ 

15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed ⁸  the Lord! I went on the campaign ⁹  the Lord sent me on. I brought back King Agag of the Amalekites after exterminating the Amalekites. 15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience? ¹⁰ 

Certainly, ¹¹  obedience ¹²  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ¹³  the fat of rams.

15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as ¹⁴  king.”

[15:16]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”

[15:16]  ² tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the singular (“he said”) rather than the plural (“they said”) of the Kethib.

[15:17]  ³ tn Heb “anointed.”

[15:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:18]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum in reading the second person singular suffix (“you”) rather than the third person plural suffix of the MT (“they”).

[15:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “you have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ¹² tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ¹³ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[15:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “from [being].”