16. “Stop,” Samuel ordered, “and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”“Tell me,” Saul said.
17. Samuel answered, “Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king of Israel,
18. and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all.
19. Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to seize the loot, and so do what displeases the Lord?”
20. “I did obey the Lord,” Saul replied. “I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites.
21. But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord your God.”
22. Samuel said, “Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.