Add parallel Print Page Options

22 (A)But Samuel said:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obedience to the Lord’s command?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
    to listen, better than the fat of rams.[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 15:22 Samuel’s reprimand echoes that of the prophets. Cultic practice is meaningless, even hypocritical, unless accompanied by an attentiveness to God’s will.

22 But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,(A)
    and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Read full chapter

For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice,
    and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.(A)

Read full chapter

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,(A)
    and acknowledgment(B) of God rather than burnt offerings.(C)

Read full chapter