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1 Samuel 15

Saul’s spared plunder exposes his rejection of God’s word, and sacrifice cannot undo the disobedience that costs him his kingdom.

Samuel sends Saul to carry out YHWH’s judgment against Amalek for its attack on Israel after the departure from Egypt. Saul defeats the Amalekites but spares their king, Agag, and the best livestock. When Samuel confronts him, Saul claims obedience and says the animals were kept for sacrifice. Samuel announces that God has rejected Saul as king. Saul confesses, yet asks to retain public honor. Samuel executes Agag, and the account closes with Samuel mourning and God grieving over Saul.

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1Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the LORD’s words.
2The LORD of Armies says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up out of Egypt.
3Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
4Saul summoned the people, and counted them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah.
6Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is before Egypt.
8He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, of the fat calves, of the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
11“It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to the LORD all night.
12Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and Samuel was told, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, turned, passed on, and went down to Gilgal.”
13Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
14Samuel said, “Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?”
15Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to the LORD your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest.”
16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stay, and I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” He said to him, “Say on.”
17Samuel said, “Though you were little in your own sight, weren’t you made the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel;
18and the LORD sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
19Why then didn’t you obey the LORD’s voice, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight?”
20Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the LORD’s voice, 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 plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the devoted things, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”
22Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the LORD’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the LORD’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.”
24Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
26Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the LORD’s word, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
28Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
29Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.”
30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.”
32Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites here to me!” Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned for Saul. The LORD grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
1 Samuel 15:22Samuel’s comparison of obedience and sacrifice answers Saul’s defense that the spared livestock would serve a religious purpose.
1 Samuel 15:29God’s truthfulness makes the announced loss of Saul’s kingdom firm, even as Saul pleads for Samuel to return.
1 Samuel 15:11God’s grief over Saul’s disobedience leads into Samuel’s night of crying out and the confrontation that follows.
Where this chapter reaches

Psalm and Jeremiah share this chapter’s insistence that sacrifice cannot substitute for hearing and obeying God’s word. Hosea and Matthew also contrast sacrifice with what God desires, linking outward worship with the mercy and faithfulness he requires.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do Saul’s changing explanations reveal about the difference between admitting an act and accepting responsibility?

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How does Samuel’s mourning affect your reading of the judgment against Saul?

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Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 15

What does “to obey is better than sacrifice” mean in 1 Samuel 15?

Saul argues that the spared livestock will be offered to God. Samuel answers that God values obedience above offerings. Since God had commanded the livestock’s destruction, sacrificing those animals would preserve the disobedience Saul was defending. The statement rejects religious acts used to excuse refusal to heed God’s word.

Why does God grieve over Saul if he does not repent?

Verses 11 and 35 describe God’s grief over making Saul king because Saul has turned from him. Verse 29 addresses the firmness of God’s announced judgment: Saul’s kingdom will be taken away. The account holds together God’s grief over human rebellion and his truthfulness in declaring Saul’s rejection.

Why did God command Saul to kill the Amalekites, including children?

The stated reason is Amalek’s opposition to Israel during the departure from Egypt. The command includes women, infants, and livestock, presenting the destruction as divine judgment. The chapter does not explain each person’s guilt or resolve every moral question this raises. It records a specific command to Saul, without establishing a general license for religious violence.

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What the Bible says about guilt →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).