撒母耳記上 12
1 撒慕爾對全以色列人說：「看，我全聽從了你們向我所說的話，立了一位君王管理你們。
Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king.
2 從此以後，有君王領導你們。至於我，我已老了，頭髮也白了；不過我的兒子還同你們在一起。我從小直到今天，常在你們面往來。
Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.
3 看，我在這裏，請你們在上主面前，在他受傅者面前答覆我：我奪過誰的牛，或奪過誰的驢﹖我壓迫過誰，或虐待過誰﹖從誰手裏接受過掩人耳目的賄賂﹖若有，我必歸還你們。」
Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
4 他們答說：「你總沒有壓迫或虐待過我們，也沒有從任何人手裏接受過什麼。」
“You have not wronged us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”
5 他又對他們說：「上主給你們作證，受傅者今日也作證：你們在我手中沒有找出什麼。」他們答說：「可以作證。」
Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied.
6 撒慕爾又對百姓說：「作見證的，是興起梅瑟和亞郎，並領你們祖先從埃及地上來的上主。
Then Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is the One who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
7 現今你們要前來，我要在上主面前使你們認清，上主向你們和你們祖先所施行的一切恩惠：
Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.
8 當雅各伯和他的兒子來到埃及時，埃及人壓迫他們，你們的祖先就向上主哀號，上主遂派遺梅瑟和亞郎領你們的祖先離開了埃及，使他們住在這個地方。
When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 但他們忘卻了上主他們的天主，他就將他們交在哈祚爾的元帥息色辣手中、培肋舍特人手中和摩阿布王手中，使這些人攻打他們。
But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
10 他們就呼求上主說：我們犯了罪，離棄了上主，事奉了巴耳和阿市托勒特諸神；如今求你救我們脫離我們敵人的手，我們願事奉你。
Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’
11 上主就派耶魯巴耳、巴辣克、依弗大和三松，從你們四圍敵人的手中拯救了你們，你們纔得安居。
So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.
12 當你們看見阿孟子民的君王納哈王來攻打你們時，曾對我說：不，我們要有一位君王來管理我們，──雖然上主你們的天主原是你們的君王。
But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.
13 現今，看，你們所揀選，所要求的君王；看，上主立了一位君王管理你們。
Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you requested. Behold, the LORD has placed a king over you.
14 若是你們敬畏上主，事奉上主，聽從他的話，不背叛上主的命令；若是你們和管理你們的君王，隨從上主你們的天主，便可生存。
If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well.
15 倘若你們不聽從上主的話，背叛上主的命令，上主的手必要與你們和你們的君王作對。
But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers.
16 現今你們前來，看上主在你們眼前要作的這偉大的奇事。
Now, therefore, stand and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.
17 現今不是收割麥子的季節嗎﹖但是我要呼求上主打雷下雨，使你們明白，也看出：你們要求一位君王，是行了上主眼中多麼可惡的事。」
Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.”
18 撒慕爾呼籲了上主，上主就在那天打雷下雨；全民眾對上主和撒慕爾很是害怕，
So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
19 都對撒慕爾說：「你為你的僕人們轉求上主你的天主，別使我們死了，因為在我們一切罪惡之上，又加了一個為我們要求君王的罪過。」
They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
20 撒慕爾對民眾說：「你們不必害怕；你們固然犯了這一切罪過，但決不要遠離上主，反而要全心事奉上主。
“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
21 你們不要追求不能援助，也不能施救的虛無邪神，因為他們只是「虛無」而已。
Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.
22 上主為了自己的大名，決不拋棄自己的百姓，因為上主喜歡你們作他的百姓。
Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
23 我也決不願得罪上主，停止為你們祈禱，或停止教訓你們行善道，走正路。
As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
24 你們只該敬畏上主，全心忠誠事奉上主，因為你們看見了，他為你們作的，是何等偉大的事。
Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
25 假使你們仍固執於惡，你們和你們的君王都必要喪亡。」
But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
