1 Samuel 12:1-25
12 And Samuel said to all Israel “Here I have obeyed you in everything that you said to me, and have established a king over you.
2 And now, here is the king going about before you, and I am old and gray-headed; and here are my sons among you; and I have been going about before you from my youth to this day.
3 Here I am: bring your charges against me in the presence of Jehovah and his anointed: whose bull have I taken, and whose donkey have I taken? and to whom have I denied justice, and whom have I persecuted? and from whom have I taken composition-money to blind my eyes with? and I will return it to you.”
4 And they said “You have never denied us justice nor persecuted us, nor taken anything from us.”
5 And he said to them “Jehovah is witness against you this day, and so is his anointed, that you have not found anything in my hands.” And they said “He is.”
6 * And Samuel said to the people “Jehovah, who made Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from Egypt, is witness.
7 And now stand out and let me plead against you before Jehovah the case of all Jehovah’s fair dealing by you and by your fathers.
8 ** When Jacob had gone into Egypt, your fathers cried to Jehovah, and Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron and took your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 And they forgot their God Jehovah, and he sold them into the hands of Sisera the general of the army of Hasor and into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the king of Moab, and they made war on them.
10 And they cried to Jehovah, and said ‘We have sinned, because we have left Jehovah and worshiped the Baals and the ʽAshtarts: now deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, and we will worship you’;
11 * and Jehovah sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on all sides, and you lived in security.
12 * And you saw that King Nahash of the Bene-ʽAmmon had come against you, and you said to me ‘No, but let there be a king reigning over us’—when your God Jehovah was your king.
13 And now here is the king that you have chosen to have: here Jehovah has put a king over you.
14 If you fear Jehovah and worship him and listen to him, and do not disobey Jehovah, and both you and the king who has come to reign over you keep on the side of your God Jehovah,—
15 but if you do not listen to Jehovah, and disobey Jehovah, then Jehovah’s hand will be upon you and upon your king to destroy you.
16 Stand out even now and see this great thing which Jehovah does before your eyes!
17 It is wheat harvest today, is it not? I will call on Jehovah and he will give thunder and rain; so see for yourselves that what you have done in asking to have a king is a great wickedness of yours in Jehovah’s sight.”
18 And Samuel called on Jehovah, and Jehovah gave thunder and rain that day. And all the people were in great fear of Jehovah and of Samuel;
19 and all the people said to Samuel “Pray for your servants to your God Jehovah; do not let us die; for we have added a wickedness to all our sins in asking to have a king.”
20 And Samuel said to the people “Do not be afraid; you have done all this wickedness, but only do not turn aside from following Jehovah, and worship Jehovah with all your hearts,
21 and do not turn aside to follow the nonentities that do no good and deliver nobody because they are nonentities.
22 For Jehovah will not abandon his people, for the sake of his great name, because Jehovah has chosen to make you his own people.
23 * For me too, away with the thought of my sinning against Jehovah by ceasing to pray for you; and I will guide you in the way of what is good and right.
24 Only fear Jehovah and worship him loyally with all your hearts; for see what great things he has done for you.
25 But if you do misbehave, both you and your king will be swept away.”
Footnotes
^ 12:6 Var. Jehovah is he who made (omitting is witness)
^ 12:8 Var. Jacob and his sons
^ 12:8 Var. Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, your fathers
^ 12:11 Var. Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samson
^ 12:12 Or was coming
^ 12:23 Conj.* in the good and straight road
