1 Samuel 12

1 And Samuel said to all Israel, You see that I have given ear to everything you said to me, and have made a king over you.

Then Samuel said to all of Israel, “I have paid attention to everything you asked from me, and I have given you a king to rule over you.

2 And now, see, the king is before you: and I am old and grey-headed, and my sons are with you: I have been living before your eyes from my early days till now.

Now your king is your leader. I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from the time I was a boy up to today.

3 Here I am: give witness against me before the Lord and before the man on whom he has put the holy oil: whose ox or ass have I taken? to whom have I been untrue? who has been crushed down by me? from whose hand have I taken a price for the blinding of my eyes? I will give it all back to you.

I stand here before you. Bring any charges you have against me in the presence of the Lord and of his anointed one. Have I taken anyone's ox or donkey? Have I wronged anyone? Have I oppressed anyone? Have I accepted a bribe from anyone to turn a blind eye? Tell me, and I will repay you.”

4 And they said, You have never been untrue to us or cruel to us; you have taken nothing from any man.

“No, you have never cheated or oppressed us,” they replied, “and you have never taken anything from anyone.”

5 Then he said, The Lord is witness against you, and the man on whom he has put the holy oil is witness this day that you have seen no wrong in me. And they said, He is witness.

Samuel told them, “The Lord is a witness, and his anointed is a witness today, in this case involving you, that you have not found me guilty of anything.” “He is a witness,” they replied.

6 And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness, who gave authority to Moses and Aaron, and who took your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.

“The Lord is a witness, he who appointed Moses and Aaron,” Samuel went on. “He led your forefathers out of the land of Egypt.

7 Keep your places now, while I take up the argument with you before the Lord, and give you the story of the righteousness of the Lord, which he has made clear by his acts to you and to your fathers.

So stand here as I present to you in the presence of the Lord the evidence of all the good things the Lord has done for you and your forefathers.

8 When Jacob and his sons had come into Egypt, and were crushed by the Egyptians, the prayers of your fathers came up to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your fathers out of Egypt, and he put them into this place.

After Jacob had gone to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the Lord for help, and he sent Moses and Aaron to lead your forefathers out of Egypt and settle them here.

9 But they were false to the Lord their God, and he gave them up into the hands of Sisera, captain of the army of Jabin, king of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the king of Moab, who made war against them.

But they forgot about the Lord their God, so he abandoned them to Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab, who attacked them.

10 Then crying out to the Lord, they said, We have done evil, because we have been turned away from the Lord, worshipping the Baals and the Astartes: but now, make us safe from those who are against us and we will be your servants.

They cried out to the Lord for help and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have rejected the Lord and worshiped the Baals and Ashtoreths. Please save us from the hands of our enemies, and we will worship you.’

11 So the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and took you out of the power of those who were fighting against you on every side, and made you safe.

Then the Lord sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he saved you from your enemies who surrounded you so you could live in safety.

12 And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, No more of this; we will have a king for our ruler: when the Lord your God was your king.

But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming to attack you, you told me, ‘No, we want our own king,’ even though the Lord your God was your king.

13 Here, then, is the king marked out by you: the Lord has put a king over you.

So here's the king you have chosen, the one you asked for. Look—the Lord now gives him to you as your king!

14 If in the fear of the Lord you are his servants, hearing his voice and not going against the orders of the Lord, but being true to the Lord your God, you and the king ruling over you, then all will be well:

If you honor the Lord, worship him, do what he tells you, and don't rebel against the Lord's instructions, and if both you and your king follow the Lord your God, then good!

15 But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord, but go against his orders, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and against your king for your destruction, as it was against your fathers.

However, if you refuse to do what he tells you, and rebel against the Lord's instructions, then the Lord will be against you as he was against your forefathers.

16 Now keep where you are and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.

Now stand still and watch what the Lord is going to do, right before your very eyes.

17 Is it not now the time of the grain cutting? My cry will go up to the Lord and he will send thunder and rain: so that you may see and be conscious of your great sin which you have done in the eyes of the Lord in desiring a king for yourselves.

Isn't it the time of wheat harvest? Well, I will ask the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will realize how very evil you were in the Lord's sight when you demanded your own king.”

18 So Samuel made prayer to the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people were in fear of the Lord and of Samuel.

Then Samuel prayed to the Lord, and that very day the Lord sent thunder and rain. Everyone was in absolute awe of the Lord and of Samuel.

19 And all the people said to Samuel, Make prayer for us to the Lord your God so that death may not overtake us: for in addition to all our sins we have done this evil, in desiring a king.

“Please pray to the Lord your God for us your servants, so we will not die!” they begged Samuel. “For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for our own king.”

20 Then Samuel said to the people, Have no fear: truly you have done evil, but do not be turned away from the Lord; be his servants with all your heart;

“Don't be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have indeed done all these evil things, don't give up following the Lord, but dedicate yourselves completely to worshiping him.

21 And do not go from the right way turning to those false gods in which there is no profit and no salvation, for they are false.

Don't worship worthless idols that can't help you or save you, for they are nothing.

22 For the Lord will not give his people up, because of the honour of his name; for it was the Lord's pleasure to make of you a people for himself.

The fact is because of the kind of person the Lord is, he won't give up on his people, because he was happy to claim you as his own.

23 And as for me, never will I go against the orders of the Lord by giving up my prayers for you: but I will go on teaching you the good and right way.

As for me, how could I sin against the Lord by no longer praying for you. I will also continue to teach you the way of goodness and right.

24 Only go in the fear of the Lord, and be his true servants with all your heart, keeping in mind what great things he has done for you.

Make sure you honor God and worship him faithfully, with complete dedication. Think of all the tremendous things he has done for you.

25 But if you still do evil, destruction will overtake you and your king.

But if you continue to do what is evil, you and your king will be wiped out.”