1 Samuel 12

1 And Samuel says to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice, to all that you said to me, and I cause a king to reign over you,

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.

2 and now, behold, the king is habitually walking before you, and I have become aged and gray-headed, and my sons, behold, they [are] with you, and I have habitually walked before you from my youth until this day.

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.

3 Behold, here I [am]; testify against me before YHWH, and before His anointed; whose ox have I taken, and whose donkey have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide my eyes with it? And I restore [it] to you.”

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.

4 And they say, “You have not oppressed us, nor have you crushed us, nor have you taken anything from the hand of anyone.”

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

5 And he says to them, “YHWH [is] a witness against you, and His anointed [is] a witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand”; and they say, “A witness.”

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.

6 And Samuel says to the people, “YHWH [is] He who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought up your fathers out of the land of Egypt!

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.

7 And now, station yourselves, and I judge you before YHWH, with all the righteous acts of YHWH, which He did with you, and with your fathers.

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.

8 When Jacob has come to Egypt, and your fathers cry to YHWH, then YHWH sends Moses and Aaron, and they bring out your fathers from Egypt, and cause them to dwell in this place,

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.

9 and they forget their God YHWH, and He sells them into the hand of Sisera, head of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fight against them,

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.

10 and they cry to YHWH, and say, We have sinned, because we have forsaken YHWH, and serve the Ba‘alim, and Ashtaroth, and now, deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we serve You.

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.

11 And YHWH sends Jerubba‘al, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivers you out of the hand of your surrounding enemies, and you dwell confidently.

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.

12 And you see that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon has come against you, and you say to me, No, but a king reigns over us; and your God YHWH [is] your king!

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.

13 And now, behold the king whom you have chosen—whom you have asked for! And behold, YHWH has placed a king over you.

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

14 If you fear YHWH, and have served Him, and listened to His voice, then you do not provoke the mouth of YHWH, and you have been—both you and the king who has reigned over you—after your God YHWH.

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:

15 And if you do not listen to the voice of YHWH—then you have provoked the mouth of YHWH, and the hand of YHWH has been against you, and against your fathers.

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.

16 Also now, station yourselves and see this great thing which YHWH is doing before your eyes;

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

17 is it not wheat-harvest today? I call to YHWH, and He gives voices and rain; and know and see that your evil is great which you have done in the eyes of YHWH, to ask [for] a king for yourselves.”

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.

18 And Samuel calls to YHWH, and YHWH gives voices and rain on that day, and all the people greatly fear YHWH and Samuel;

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.

19 and all the people say to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to your God YHWH, and we do not die, for we have added evil to all our sins to ask [for] a king for ourselves.”

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.

20 And Samuel says to the people, “Do not fear; you have done all this evil; only, do not turn aside from after YHWH—and you have served YHWH with all your heart,

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;

21 and you do not turn aside after the vain things which do not profit nor deliver, for they [are] vain,

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.

22 for YHWH does not leave His people, on account of His great Name; for YHWH has been pleased to make you for a people to Him.

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.

23 I, also, far be it from me to sin against YHWH, by ceasing to pray for you, and I have directed you in the good and upright way;

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.

24 only, fear YHWH, and you have served Him in truth with all your heart, for see that which He has made great with you;

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.

25 and if you really do evil, both you and your king are consumed.”

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