Discovery Box1 Samuel 15:21-25 
Context15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
15:22 Then Samuel said,
“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as he does in obedience? 1
Certainly, 2 obedience 3 is better than sacrifice;
paying attention is better than 4 the fat of rams.
15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as 5 king.”
15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded 6 and what you said as well. 7 For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. 8 15:25 Now please forgive my sin! Go back with me so I can worship 9 the Lord.”
1 tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the
2 tn Heb “look.”
3 tn Heb “listening.”
4 tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).
5 tn Or “from [being].”
6 tn Heb “the mouth of the
7 tn Heb “and your words.”
8 tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”
9 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.
