17. And Shemu’ĕl said, “Though you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl? And did not יהוה anoint you sovereign over Yisra’ĕl?
18. “And יהוה sent you on the way, and said, ‘Go, and you shall put under the ban the sinners, the Amalĕqites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
19. “And why did you not obey the voice of יהוה, but swooped down on the spoil, and did evil in the eyes of יהוה?”
20. And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I did obey the voice of יהוה, and I went on the way on which יהוה sent me, and brought back Ag̅ag̅ sovereign of Amalĕq, and I put Amalĕq under the ban.
21. “But the people took of the spoil, of the sheep and cattle, the best of that which should have been put under the ban, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim in Gilgal.”
22. Then Shemu’ĕl said, “Does יהוה delight in burnt offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying the voice of יהוה? Look, to obey is better than an offering, to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23. “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of יהוה, He also does reject you as sovereign.”
24. And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the command of יהוה and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.