Samuel Addresses Israel

1 Then 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 “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 the Lord 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.”

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

5 He said to them, “The Lord 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.”

6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord 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 plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and your fathers.

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

9 “But athey forgot the Lord their God, so bHe sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain 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 “aThey cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord 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 the Lord sent aJerubbaal and 1bBedan and cJephthah and dSamuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.