1 Samuel 12
1 Samuel said to all Israel, “Look, I have listened to everything you said to me, and I have appointed a king over you.
2 Now here is the king, walking before you. I am old and gray-haired, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until today.
3 Here I am. Testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed: Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to turn a blind eye? I will give it back to you.”
4 They answered, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us, and you have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
5 He said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today, that you have found nothing in my hand.” They answered, “He is witness.”
6 Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt.
7 Now present yourselves, and I will bring a case against you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts the LORD did for you and your ancestors.
8 When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the LORD, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 But they forgot the LORD their God. So he handed them over to Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab, who fought against them.
10 Then they cried out to the LORD: ‘We have sinned, because we abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’
11 The LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and rescued you from the hand of your enemies all around, and you lived in safety.
12 But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No! A king will rule over us.’ Yet the LORD your God was your king.
13 Now here is the king you chose, the one you asked for. Look, the LORD has set a king over you.”
14 “If you fear the LORD, serve him, listen to his voice, and do not rebel against the LORD’s command, then both you and the king who rules over you will follow the LORD your God.
15 But if you do not listen to the LORD’s voice and rebel against the LORD’s command, the LORD’s hand will be against you and your ancestors.
16 Now stand still and see this great thing that the LORD is about to do before your eyes.
17 Isn’t this the day of the wheat harvest? I will call to the LORD, and he will send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see how great the evil is that you have done in the LORD’s sight by asking for a king for yourselves.”
18 Samuel called to the LORD, and that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. All the people were greatly afraid of the LORD and of Samuel.
19 All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants, so that we may not die, because to all our sins we have added the evil of asking for a king for ourselves.”
20 Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil, but do not turn away from the LORD; serve the LORD with all your heart.
21 Do not turn aside to empty things that cannot help or rescue, because they are empty.
22 For the LORD will not abandon his people, because of his great name, since the LORD was pleased to make you his people.
23 As for me, far be it from me to sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. I will teach you the good and right way.
24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully, with all your heart, for see what great things he has done for you.
25 But if you continue to do evil, both you and your king will be destroyed.”
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app