Saul persisted in self-justification: "Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal."

Saul blev ved med at retfærdiggøre sig. "Jeg adlød Herrens røst og gik, hvor Herren sendte mig hen; jeg har bragt kong Agag af Amalek med og lagt band på Amalek; men folket tog småkvæg og hornkvæg af byttet, det bedste af det bandlyste, for at ofre det til Herren din Gud i Gilgal."