1 Samuel 12
12
Samuel's Address to the People
1And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. 2And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. 3Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 4And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand. 5And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
6 #
Exod 6.26. And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers. 8#Exod 2.23. When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. 9#Judg 4.2; Judg 13.1; Judg 3.12. And when they forgat the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sis´era, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10#Judg 10.10-15. And they cried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Ba´alim and Ash´toreth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. 11#Judg 7.1; Judg 4.6; Judg 11.29; 1 Sam 3.20. And the Lord sent Jerubba´al, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelt safe. 12#1 Sam 8.19. And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king. 13Now therefore, behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the Lord hath set a king over you. 14If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord; then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: 15but if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord; then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers. 16Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. 17Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king. 18So Samuel called unto the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. 20And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; 21and turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. 22For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. 23Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: 24only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. 25But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
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1 Samuel 12: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
1 Samuel 12
12
Samuel’s Farewell Speech
1Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done everything you wanted me to do. I have put a king over you. 2Now you have a king to lead you. I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader since I was young. 3Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, you must testify against me. Do this before the Lord and his appointed king. Did I steal anyone’s ox or donkey? Did I hurt or cheat anyone? Did I ever secretly take money to pretend not to see something wrong? If I did any of these things, I will make it right.”
4The Israelites answered, “You have not cheated us. You have not hurt us. You have not taken anything unfairly from anyone.”
5Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness to what you have said. His appointed king is also a witness today. They are both witnesses that you did not find anything wrong in me.”
“He is our witness,” they said.
6Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is our witness. He chose Moses and Aaron. He brought your ancestors out of Egypt. 7Now, stand there. And I will talk with you about all the good things the Lord did for you and your ancestors.
8“After Jacob entered Egypt, his descendants cried to the Lord for help. So the Lord sent Moses and Aaron. They took your ancestors out of Egypt and brought them to live in this place.
9“But they forgot the Lord their God. So he let them become the slaves of Sisera. He was the commander of the army of Hazor. The Lord let them become the slaves of the Philistines and the king of Moab. They all fought against your ancestors. 10Then your ancestors cried to the Lord. They said, ‘We have sinned. We have left the Lord. We served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now save us from our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11The Lord sent Gideon, who is also called Jerub-Baal. And he sent Barak, Jephthah and Samuel. Then he saved you from your enemies around you. And you lived in safety. 12But then you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites coming against you. You said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us!’ 13Now here is the king you chose. The Lord has put him over you. 14You must honor the Lord and serve him. You must obey his commands. Both you and the king ruling over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, it will be well with you. 15But if you don’t obey the Lord, and if you fight against his commands, he will be against you. He will do to you what he did to your ancestors.
16“Now stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. 17It is now the time of the wheat harvest.# This was a dry time in the summer when no rains fell. I will pray for the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will know what an evil thing you did against the Lord when you asked for a king.”
18Then Samuel prayed to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. And the people became very afraid of the Lord and Samuel. 19They said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants! Don’t let us die! We’ve added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
20Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. It’s true that you did wrong. But don’t turn away from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. 21Idols are of no use. So don’t worship them. They can’t help you or save you. They are useless! 22For his own sake, the Lord won’t leave his people. Instead, he was pleased to make you his own people. 23I will surely not stop praying for you. If I did, I would be sinning against the Lord. I will teach you what is good and right. 24But you must honor the Lord. You must always serve him with all your heart. Remember the wonderful things he did for you! 25But if you are stubborn and do evil, God will sweep you and your king away.”
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