1 Samuel 12

12And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto ^ayour voice in all that ye said unto me, and ^bhave made a king over you. ²And now, behold, the king ^cwalketh before you: ^dand I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. ³Behold, here I am: ^ewitness against me before the Lord, and before ^fhis anointed: ^gwhose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I ^hdefrauded? whom have I ^hoppressed? or of whose hand have I received any ^†bribe ^||to ⁱblind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. ⁴And they said, Thou hast not ^hdefrauded us, nor ^hoppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. ⁵And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and ^fhis anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought ^jin my hand. And they answered, He is witness. ⁶And Samuel said unto the people, ^kIt is the Lord that ^||advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷Now therefore stand still, that I may ^lreason with you before the Lord of all the ^†righteous acts of the Lord, which he did ^†to you and ^†to your fathers. ^8mWhen Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers ⁿcried unto the Lord, then the Lord ^osent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. ⁹And when they ^pforgat the Lord their God, ^qhe sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of ^rthe Philistines, and into the hand of the king ^sof Moab, and they fought against them. ¹⁰And they ^tcried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, ^uand have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now ^wdeliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. ¹¹And the Lord sent ^xJerubbaal, and ^yBedan, and ^zJephthah, and ^aSamuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. ¹²And when ye saw that ^bNahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ^cye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when ^dthe Lord your God was your king. ¹³Now therefore ^ebehold the ^fking whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, ^gthe Lord hath set a king over you. ¹⁴If ye will ^hfear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the ^†commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you ^†continue following the Lord your God: ¹⁵But if ye will ⁱnot obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall ^jthe hand of the Lord be against you, ^kas it was against your fathers. ¹⁶Now therefore ^lstand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷Is it not ^mwheat harvest to day? ⁿI will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that ^oyour wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king.

¹⁸So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and ^pall the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. ¹⁹And all the people said unto Samuel, ^qPray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. ²⁰And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; ²¹And ^rturn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot ^sprofit nor deliver; for they are vain. ²²For ^tthe Lord will not forsake his people for ^uhis great name’s sake: because ^xit hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. ²³Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord ^†in ceasing ^yto pray for you: but ^zI will teach you the ^agood and the right way: ^24bOnly fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for ^cconsider ^||how ^dgreat things he hath done for you. ²⁵But if ye shall still do wickedly, ^dye shall be consumed, ^eboth ye and your king.