1 Samuel 15:19-23

English Standard Version

¹⁹Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? ^(A)Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰And Saul said to Samuel, ^(B)“I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹^(C)But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” ²²And Samuel said,

^(D)“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
    as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, ^(E)to obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to listen than the fat of rams.
²³For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
    and presumption is as iniquity and ^(F)idolatry.
Because ^(G)you have rejected the word of the Lord,
    ^(H)he has also rejected you from being king.”