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.

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

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16 You do not delight in sacrifice,(A) or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice,(B) O God, is[a] a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart(C)
    you, God, will not despise.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 51:17 Or The sacrifices of God are

To do what is right and just
    is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.(A)

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21 “I hate,(A) I despise your religious festivals;(B)
    your assemblies(C) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(D) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.(E)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.(F)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.(G)
24 But let justice(H) roll on like a river,
    righteousness(I) like a never-failing stream!(J)

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33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”(A)

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13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a](A) For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 9:13 Hosea 6:6

With what shall I come before(A) the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?(B)
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,(C)
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?(D)
Shall I offer my firstborn(E) for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?(F)
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly(G) and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly[a](H) with your God.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 6:8 Or prudently

22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands(A) about burnt offerings and sacrifices,(B) 23 but I gave them this command:(C) Obey(D) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.(E) Walk in obedience to all(F) I command you, that it may go well(G) with you.

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11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;(A)
I have no pleasure(B)
    in the blood of bulls(C) and lambs and goats.(D)
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,(E)
    this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!(F)
    Your incense(G) is detestable(H) to me.
New Moons,(I) Sabbaths and convocations(J)
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon(K) feasts and your appointed festivals(L)
    I hate with all my being.(M)
They have become a burden to me;(N)
    I am weary(O) of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands(P) in prayer,
    I hide(Q) my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.(R)

Your hands(S) are full of blood!(T)

16 Wash(U) and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;(V)
    stop doing wrong.(W)
17 Learn to do right;(X) seek justice.(Y)
    Defend the oppressed.[a](Z)
Take up the cause of the fatherless;(AA)
    plead the case of the widow.(AB)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:17 Or justice. / Correct the oppressor

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—(A)
    but my ears you have opened[a](B)
    burnt offerings(C) and sin offerings[b] you did not require.
Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
    it is written about me in the scroll.[c](D)
I desire to do your will,(E) my God;(F)
    your law is within my heart.”(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 40:6 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts but a body you have prepared for me
  2. Psalm 40:6 Or purification offerings
  3. Psalm 40:7 Or come / with the scroll written for me

Fulfill Your Vow to God

[a]Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:17, and 5:2-20 is numbered 5:1-19.

If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[a](A) you would not have condemned the innocent.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 12:7 Hosea 6:6

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats(A) to take away sins.(B)

Therefore, when Christ came into the world,(C) he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;(D)
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll(E)
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”[a](F)

First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”(G)—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.”(H) He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy(I) through the sacrifice of the body(J) of Jesus Christ once for all.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 10:7 Psalm 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth(A) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.(B) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

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I bring no charges(A) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,(B) which are ever before me.
I have no need of a bull(C) from your stall
    or of goats(D) from your pens,(E)

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24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

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13 Now reform(A) your ways and your actions and obey(B) the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent(C) and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you.

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From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again,(A) saying, “Obey me.”

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Now if you obey me fully(A) and keep my covenant,(B) then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.(C) Although the whole earth(D) is mine,

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the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,(A) out of the iron-smelting furnace.(B)’ I said, ‘Obey(C) me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people,(D) and I will be your God.

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