12. Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, and was told, "Saul went to Carmel, where he is setting up a monument for himself. Then he left and went down to Gilgal."
13. When Samuel reached Saul, Saul greeted him, "The Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said."
14. "Then what," Samuel asked, "is this bleating of sheep in my ears and mooing of cattle I hear?"
15. "They were taken from the Amalekites," Saul said, "because the troops spared the best sheep and cattle in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. The rest was placed under the ban."
16. Samuel then said to Saul, "Enough! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.""Tell me," Saul replied.
17. Samuel said, "Even if you think you are insignificant, aren’t you the leader of Israel’s tribes? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.
18. The Lord sent you on a mission, instructing you, ‘Go, and put the sinful Amalekites under the ban. Fight against them until you’ve wiped them out.’
19. Why didn’t you obey the Lord? You did evil in the Lord’s eyes when you tore into the plunder!"
20. "But I did obey the Lord!" Saul protested to Samuel. "I went on the mission the Lord sent me on. I captured Agag the Amalekite king, and I put the Amalekites under the ban.
21. Yes, the troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the very best items placed under the ban—but in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal."
22. Then Samuel replied,"Does the Lord want entirely burned offerings and sacrificesas much as obedience to the Lord?Listen to this: obeying is better than sacrificing,paying attention is better than fat from rams,
23. because rebellion is as bad as the sin of divination;arrogance is like the evil of idolatry.Because you have rejected what the Lord said,he has rejected you as king."
24. Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned because I disobeyed the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the troops and obeyed them.
25. But now please forgive my sin! Come back with me, so I can worship the Lord."