1 Samuel 15:13-23

15:13 When Samuel came to him, ¹  Saul said to him, “May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”

15:14 Samuel replied, “If that is the case, ²  then what is this sound of sheep in my ears and the sound of cattle that I hear?” 15:15 Saul said, “They were brought ³  from the Amalekites; the army spared the best of the flocks and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord our God. But everything else we slaughtered.”

15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! ⁴  Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul ⁵  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 ⁶  you as king over Israel. 15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign ⁷  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ⁸  have destroyed them.’ 15:19 Why haven’t you obeyed ⁹  the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord’s estimation.” ¹⁰ 

15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed ¹¹  the Lord! I went on the campaign ¹²  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? ¹³ 

Certainly, ¹⁴  obedience ¹⁵  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ¹⁶  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 ¹⁷  king.”

[15:13]  ¹ tn Heb “to Saul.”

[15:14]  ² tn The words “if that is the case” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:15]  ³ tn Heb “they brought them.”

[15:16]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”

[15:16]  ⁵ 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.

[15:16]  tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “anointed.”

[15:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:18]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ¹² tn Heb “journey.”

[15:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ¹⁶ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[15:23]  ¹⁷ tn Or “from [being].”