13
And Samuelcame to Saul: and Saulsaid unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
14
And Samuelsaid, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15
And Saulsaid, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the peoplespared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16
Then Samuelsaid unto Saul,Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17
And Samuelsaid, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORDanointed thee king over Israel?
18
And the LORDsent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19
Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didstevil in the sight of the LORD?
20
And Saulsaid unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORDsent me, and have broughtAgag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21
But the peopletook of the spoil,sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
22
And Samuelsaid, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,[a] and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.