1st Samuel 撒母耳记上15

15Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord .
2This is what the Lord Almighty¹ says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid² them as they came up from Egypt.
3Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "
4So Saul summoned the men and mustered⁴ them at Telaim-two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah.
5Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush⁵ in the ravine.
6Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt.
8He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
9But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves⁶ and lambs-everything that was good. These they were unwilling⁷ to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
10Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel:
11"I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.
12Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."
13When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord 's instructions."
14But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating⁸ of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
15Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
16"Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul replied.
17Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.
18And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.'
19Why did you not obey the Lord ? Why did you pounce⁹ on the plunder¹⁰ and do evil in the eyes of the Lord ?"
20"But I did obey the Lord ," Saul said. "I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.
21The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted¹¹ to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal."
22But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed¹² is better than the fat of rams¹³.
23For rebellion is like the sin of divination¹⁴, and arrogance¹⁵ like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord , he has rejected you as king."
24Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the Lord 's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.
25Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord ."
26But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord , and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!"
27As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem³ of his robe, and it tore.
28Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors-to one better than you.
29He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
30Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God."
31So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord .
32Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites." Agag came to him confidently, thinking, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
33But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women." And Samuel put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.
34Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
35Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the Lord was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

1 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

2 waylaid   

v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I got waylaid on my way here. 我在来这里的路上遭到了拦路抢劫。
• He was waylaid by thieves. 他在路上被抢了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 hem   

n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制

参考例句：

• The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
• The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。

4 mustered   

v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发

参考例句：

• We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。
• The troops mustered on the square. 部队已在广场上集合。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

6 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

8 bleating   

v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的现在分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说

参考例句：

• I don't like people who go around bleating out things like that. 我不喜欢跑来跑去讲那种蠢话的人。 来自辞典例句
• He heard the tinny phonograph bleating as he walked in. 他步入室内时听到那架蹩脚的留声机在呜咽。 来自辞典例句

9 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

10 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

11 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

12 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

13 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

14 divination   

n.占卜，预测

参考例句：

• Divination is made up of a little error and superstition,plus a lot of fraud.占卜是由一些谬误和迷信构成，再加上大量的欺骗。
• Katherine McCormack goes beyond horoscopes and provides a quick guide to other forms of divination.凯瑟琳·麦考马克超越了占星并给其它形式的预言提供了快速的指导。

15 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。