1 Samuel 15:18-24

Context
15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign¹ saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you² have destroyed them.’ 15:19 Why haven’t you obeyed³ the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord’s estimation.”⁴

15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed⁵ the Lord! I went on the campaign⁶ 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?⁷

Certainly,⁸ obedience⁹ is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than¹⁰ 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 as¹¹ king.”

15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded¹² and what you said as well.¹³ For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes.¹⁴

1 Samuel 15:1

Context

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says.¹⁵

1 Samuel 10:13-14

Context
10:13 When Saul¹⁶ had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.

10:14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul¹⁷ replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost,¹⁸ we went to Samuel.”

Romans 3:9

Context

The Condemnation of the World

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin,

[15:18] ¹tn Heb “journey.”

[15:18] ²tc 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] ³tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:19] ⁴tn Heb “you have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[15:20] ⁵tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:20] ⁶tn Heb “journey.”

[15:22] ⁷tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22] ⁸tn Heb “look.”

[15:22] ⁹tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22] ¹⁰tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[15:23] ¹¹tn Or “from [being].”

[15:24] ¹²tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[15:24] ¹³tn Heb “and your words.”

[15:24] ¹⁴tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

[15:1] ¹⁵tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

[10:13] ¹⁶tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14] ¹⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14] ¹⁸tn Heb “And we saw that they were not.”