1 Samuel 12

Samuel’s Final Public Speech

12Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you. ^f2Now you can see that the king is leading you. As for me, I’m old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until today. ³Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? ^gWhom have I wronged or mistreated? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to overlook something? ^hijI will return it to you.”

⁴“You haven’t wronged us, you haven’t mistreated us, and you haven’t taken anything from anyone’s hand,” they responded.

⁵He said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today that you haven’t found anything ^kin my hand.” ^l

“He is a witness,” they said.

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord, who appointed Moses and Aaron ^mand who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt, is a witness. ⁿ⁷Now present yourselves, so I may confront you before the Lord about all the righteous acts He has done for you and your ancestors.

⁸“When Jacob went to Egypt, ^oyour ancestors cried out to the Lord, ^pand He sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ^q9But they forgot the Lord their God, so He handed them over to Sisera ^rcommander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. ^sThese enemies fought against them. ¹⁰Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the power of our enemies, ^tand we will serve You.’ ¹¹So the Lord sent Jerubbaal, ^uBarak, ^vwJephthah, ^xand Samuel. ^yHe rescued you from the power of the enemies around you, and you lived securely. ¹²But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king rule over us’—even though the Lord your God is your king.

¹³“Now here is the king you’ve chosen, ^zthe one you requested. ^aLook, this is the king the Lord has placed over you. ¹⁴If you fear the Lord, ^bworship and obey Him, and if you don’t rebel against the Lord’s command, then both you and the king who rules over you will follow the Lord your God. ¹⁵However, if you disobey the Lord ^cand rebel against His command, the Lord’s hand will be against you ^dand against your ancestors. ^ef

¹⁶“Now, therefore, present yourselves and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. ^g17Isn’t the wheat harvest today? ^hI will call on the Lord and He will send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you committed in the Lord’s sight by requesting a king for yourselves.” ⁱ¹⁸Samuel called on the Lord, and on that day the Lord sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. ^j

¹⁹They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, ^kso we won’t die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves.” ^l

²⁰Samuel replied, “Don’t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don’t turn away from following the Lord. ^mInstead, worship the Lord with all your heart. ²¹Don’t turn away to follow worthless ⁿthings that can’t profit or deliver you; they are worthless. ^o22The Lord will not abandon His people, ^pbecause of His great name and because He has determined to make you His own people. ^q

²³“As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. ^rI will teach you the good and right way. ²⁴Above all, fear the Lord and worship Him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things He has done for you. ^s25However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away.” ^t