1 Samuel 15:22

New American Bible - revised edition

But Samuel said: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to the Lord’s command? Obedience is better than sacrifice, to listen, better than the fat of rams.

Cross References

Genesis 4:4

while Abel, for his part, brought the fatty portion of the firstlings of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

Exodus 19:5

Now, if you obey me completely and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, though all the earth is mine.

Proverbs 21:3

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Ecclesiastes 5:1

Be not hasty in your utterance and let not your heart be quick to utter a promise in God’s presence. God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

Jeremiah 11:4

which I commanded your ancestors the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that iron furnace, saying: Listen to my voice and do all that I command you. Then you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Jeremiah 11:7

I warned your ancestors unceasingly from the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt even to this day: obey my voice.

Jeremiah 26:13

Now, therefore, reform your ways and your deeds; listen to the voice of the Lord your God, so that the Lord will have a change of heart regarding the evil he has spoken against you.

Hosea 6:6

For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 8:13

They love sacrifice, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the Lord is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their guilt and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.

Matthew 12:7

If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men.

Matthew 23:23

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. [But] these you should have done, without neglecting the others.

Matthew 5:24

leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 9:13

Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” The Question About Fasting.

Mark 12:33

And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

1 Samuel 13:12

I said to myself, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet sought the Lord’s blessing.’ So I thought I should sacrifice the burnt offering.”

1 Samuel 13:13

Samuel replied to Saul: “You have acted foolishly! Had you kept the command the Lord your God gave you, the Lord would now establish your kingship in Israel forever;