22. Samuel said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrificesas much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?Obedience is better than sacrifice,a listening ear than the fat of rams.
23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,He has also rejected you from being king.”
24. Saul 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.
25. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26. Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27. As Samuel turned about to go, he seized the edge of his robe and it tore.
28. Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
29. Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent. For He is not a man, that He should repent.”
30. Then he said, “I have sinned, yet please honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.”