NSB(i)
16 »Be quiet,« Samuel told Saul, »Let me tell you what Jehovah told me last night.« »Speak,« Saul replied.
17 Samuel said to Saul: »You are little in your own eyes. Even though you are a leader of all of the tribes of Israel that Jehovah anointed king over Israel.
18 »Jehovah sent you on a mission. He said: Go and destroy those sinners, the Amalekites. Fight against them until every one is dead.
19 »Why then did you not obey the voice of Jehovah? Why did you pounce on the plunder? Why did you do evil in the sight of Jehovah?«
20 Then Saul said to Samuel: »I did obey the voice of Jehovah. I went on the mission Jehovah sent me. I brought back Agag the king of Amalek. I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. »
21 The people took from the plunder of the flock the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gilgal.
22 Samuel said: »What is more pleasing to Jehovah, burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obeying is better than sacrifice. To pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
23 »The sin of divination is rebellion. Wickedness and idolatry are arrogance. They are evil. Because you rejected the word of Jehovah, he rejects you as king.«