1 Samuel 12

CHAPTER 12

Samuel Speaks to Israel

¹Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, ^aI have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and I ^bhave ¹appointed a king over you.

²“So now, ^ahere is the king walking before you, but ^bI am old and gray, and behold, ^cmy sons are with you. And ^dI have walked before you from my youth even to this day.

³“Here I am; bear witness against me before Yahweh and ^aHis anointed. ^bWhose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or ^cfrom whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you.”

⁴And they said, “You have not extorted us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”

⁵So he said to them, “Yahweh is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that ^ayou have found nothing ^bin my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “It is Yahweh who ^1aappointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.

⁷“So now, take your stand, ^athat I may judge you before Yahweh concerning all the righteous acts of Yahweh which He did for you and your fathers.

⁸“^aWhen Jacob went into Egypt and ^byour fathers cried out to Yahweh, then ^cYahweh sent Moses and Aaron ^1dwho brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹“But ^athey forgot Yahweh their God, so ^bHe sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and ^cinto the hand of the Philistines and ^dinto the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

¹⁰“^aAnd they cried out to Yahweh and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served ^bthe Baals and the Ashtaroth; but ^cnow deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’

¹¹“Then Yahweh sent ^aJerubbaal and ^1bBedan and ^cJephthah and ^dSamuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

¹²“But you saw ^athat Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, and you said to me, ‘^bNo, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^calthough Yahweh your God was your king.

¹³“So now, ^abehold, the king whom you have chosen, ^bwhom you have asked for, and behold, Yahweh has set a king over you.

¹⁴“^aIf you will fear Yahweh and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against the ¹command of Yahweh, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow Yahweh your God.

¹⁵“^aBut if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh, but rebel against the ¹command of Yahweh, then ^bthe hand of Yahweh will be against you, ^cas it was against your fathers.

¹⁶“Even now, ^atake your stand and see this great thing which Yahweh will do before your eyes.

¹⁷“^aIs it not the wheat harvest today? ^bI will call to Yahweh, that He may send ¹thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that ^cyour wickedness is great which you have done in the eyes of Yahweh by asking for yourselves a king.”

¹⁸So Samuel called to Yahweh, and Yahweh sent ¹thunder and rain that day; and ^aall the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.

¹⁹Then all the people said to Samuel, “^aPray for your servants to Yahweh your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins ^bthis evil by asking for ourselves a king.”

²⁰And Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet ^ado not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart.

²¹“And you must not turn aside, for then you would go after ^ameaningless things which cannot profit and cannot deliver, because they are meaningless.

²²“For ^aYahweh will not abandon His people ^bon account of His great name, because Yahweh ^chas been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

²³“Moreover, as for me, ^afar be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you; but ^bI will instruct you in the good and upright way.

²⁴“^aOnly ¹fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for see ^bwhat great things He has done for you.

²⁵“^aBut if you still do wickedly, ^bboth you and your king ^cwill be swept away.”