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1 Samuel 15:21-23
Contemporary English Version
1 Samuel 15:21-23
Contemporary English Version
21 All the animals were going to be destroyed[a] anyway. That's why the army brought the best sheep and cattle to Gilgal as sacrifices to the Lord your God.”
22 “Tell me,” Samuel said. “Does the Lord really want sacrifices and offerings? No! He doesn't want your sacrifices. He wants you to obey him. 23 Rebelling against God or disobeying him because you are proud is just as bad as worshiping idols or asking them for advice. You refused to do what God told you, so God has decided that you can no longer be king.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 15.21 animals … destroyed: The Hebrew means things that were set aside for God. They could not be used for anything else, so they had to be destroyed.
1 Samuel 15:21-23
New International Version
1 Samuel 15:21-23
New International Version
21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22 But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,(A)
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,(B)
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected(C) the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.