Yahweh rejected Saul as king

10 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I appointed Saul to be your king, because he has turned away from me and has not obeyed what I commanded him to do.” Samuel was very disturbed/upset when he heard that, and he cried out to Yahweh all that night.

12 Early the next morning, Samuel got up and went to talk with Saul. But someone told Samuel, “Saul went to Camel city, where he has set up a monument to honor himself. Now he has left there and gone down to Gilgal.”

13 When Samuel arrived at Gilgal he approached Saul, and Saul said to him,, “I wish/desire that Yahweh will bless you! I have obeyed what Yahweh told me to do.”

14 But Samuel replied, “If that is true, why is it that I hear cattle mooing and I hear sheep bleating?”

15 Saul replied, “The soldiers took them from the Amalek people-group. They saved the best sheep and cattle, in order to offer them as sacrifices to Yahweh, your God. But we have completely destroyed all the others.”

16 Samuel said to Saul, “Stop talking! Allow me to tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.”

Saul replied, “Tell me what he said.” 17 Samuel said, “Previously you did not think that you were important. But now you have become [RHQ] the leader of the tribes of Israel. Yahweh appointed you to be their king. 18 And Yahweh sent you to do something for him. He said to you, ‘Go and get rid of all those sinful people, the Amalek people-group. Attack them and kill all of them.’ 19 So why did you not obey Yahweh [RHQ]? Why did your men take the best animals [RHQ]? Why did you do what Yahweh said was evil?” [RHQ]

20 Saul replied to Samuel, “Hey, I did what Yahweh sent me to do! I brought back King Agag, but we killed everyone else! 21 My men brought back only the best sheep and cattle and other things, in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God here at Gilgal.”

22 But Samuel replied,

“Which do you think pleases Yahweh more, animals that are completely burned on the altar and other sacrifices,

or people obeying him [SYN]?

It is better to obey Yahweh than to offer sacrifices to him.

It is better to pay attention to what he says than to burn the fat of rams, even though God said they should be sacrificed to him.

23 To rebel against God is as sinful as doing sorcery/black magic,

and being stubborn is as sinful as worshiping idols.

So, because you disobeyed what Yahweh told you to do,

he has declared that you will no longer be king.”