1 Samuel 15:22 · KJV
“And Samuel said, 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.”
— 1 Samuel 15:22
But the people took 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.
For rebellion {is as} the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness {is as} iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from {being} king. {witchcraft: Heb. divination}
1 Samuel 15 — Context
And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21But the people took 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.
22And Samuel said, 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.
23For rebellion {is as} the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness {is as} iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from {being} king. {witchcraft: Heb. divination}
24And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
Cross References
Hosea 6:6
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Psalms 51:16-17
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give {it}: thou delightest not in burnt offering. {else...: or, that I should}
Proverbs 21:3
To do justice and judgment {is} more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Amos 5:21-24
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. {in...: or, your holy days}
Mark 12:33
And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love {his} neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Matthew 9:13
But go ye and learn what {that} meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Micah 6:6-8
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, {and} bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? {of a...: Heb. sons of a year?}
Jeremiah 7:22-23
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: {concerning: Heb. concerning the matter of}