1 Samuel 12

Chapter 12

Samuel Addresses 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“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.”

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

⁵He 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.”

⁶Then 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.

The King Confirmed

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

¹³“Now therefore, ^ahere is the king whom you have chosen, ^bwhom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

²¹“You must not turn aside, for then you would go after ^afutile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile.

²²“For ^athe Lord will not abandon His people ^bon account of His great name, because the Lord ^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 the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but ^bI will instruct you in the good and right way.

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

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