Samuel said to Saul, ‘Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.’ Saul said, ‘Tell me.’ Samuel continued, ‘Small as you may be in your own eyes, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king over Israel. The Lord sent you on a mission and said to you, “Go, put these sinners, the Amalekites, under the ban and make war on them until they are exterminated.” Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you fall on the booty and do what is displeasing to the Lord?’ Saul replied to Samuel, ‘But I did obey the voice of the Lord. I went on the mission which the Lord gave me; I brought back Agag king of the Amalekites; I put the Amalekites under the ban. From the booty the people took the best sheep and oxen of what was under the ban to sacrifice them to the Lord your God in Gilgal.’ But Samuel replied:

‘Is the pleasure of the Lord in holocausts and sacrifices
or in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
Yes, obedience is better than sacrifice,
submissiveness better than the fat of rams.
Rebellion is a sin of sorcery,
presumption a crime of teraphim.

‘Since you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.’

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

‘I find no fault with your sacrifices,
  your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms,
  nor goats from among your herds.

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

‘But how can you recite my commandments
  and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law
  and throw my words to the winds,

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

‘You do this, and should I keep silence?
  Do you think that I am like you?
A sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me
  and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.’

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept God’s message for what it really is:
God’s message, and not some human thinking.
Alleluia!