Berean Standard Bible

1 Samuel 15:16-24

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

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

17And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel 18and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”

20“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”

22But Samuel declared:

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrificesas much as in obedience to His voice?Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice,and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.23For rebellion is like the sin of divination,and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,He has rejected you as king.”

24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Read all of 1 Samuel 15

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 15