1 Samuel 12
1 And Samuel saith unto all Israel, 'Lo, I have hearkened to your voice, to all that ye said to me, and I cause to reign over you a king,
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, lo, the king is walking habitually before you, and I have become aged and gray-headed, and my sons, lo, they [are] with you, and I have walked habitually before you from my youth till 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 'Lo, here [am] I; testify against me, over-against Jehovah, and over-against His anointed; whose ox have I taken, and whose ass have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide mine eyes with it? — and I restore 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, 'Thou hast not oppressed us, nor hast thou crushed us, nor hast thou taken from the hand of any one anything.'
And they said, You have never been untrue to us or cruel to us; you have taken nothing from any man.
5 And he saith unto them, 'A witness [is] Jehovah against you: and a witness [is] His anointed this day, that ye 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 saith unto the people, 'Jehovah — 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 Jehovah, with all the righteous acts of Jehovah, 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 hath come in to Egypt, and your fathers cry unto Jehovah, then Jehovah sendeth 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 Jehovah their God, and He selleth 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 unto Jehovah, and say, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Jehovah, and serve the Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and now, deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we serve Thee.
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 Jehovah sendeth Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivereth you out of the hand of your enemies round about, and ye 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 ye see that Nahash king of the Bene-Ammon hath come against you, and ye say to me, Nay, but a king doth reign over us; and Jehovah your God [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, lo, the king whom ye have chosen — whom ye have asked! and lo, Jehovah hath placed over you a king.
Here, then, is the king marked out by you: the Lord has put a king over you.
14 'If ye fear Jehovah, and have served Him, and hearkened to His voice, then ye do not provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and ye have been — both ye and the king who hath reigned over you — after Jehovah your God.
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 ye do not hearken to the voice of Jehovah — then ye have provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and the hand of Jehovah hath 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 Jehovah 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 to-day? I call unto Jehovah, and He doth give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your evil is great which ye have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to ask for you a king.'
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 calleth unto Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth voices and rain, on that day, and all the people greatly fear Jehovah 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 unto Samuel, 'Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy God, and we do not die, for we have added to all our sins evil to ask for us a king.'
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 saith unto the people, 'Fear not; ye have done all this evil; only, turn not aside from after Jehovah — and ye have served Jehovah 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 ye 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 Jehovah doth not leave His people, on account of His great name; for Jehovah hath been pleased to make you to Him for a people.
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 Jehovah, 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 ye Jehovah, and ye have served Him in truth with all your heart, for see that which He hath 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 ye really do evil, both ye and your king are consumed.'
But if you still do evil, destruction will overtake you and your king.
