1 Samuel 12
12
Samuel’s Farewell Address
1And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed #ch. 8:5, 19, 20 your voice in all that you have said to me #ch. 10:24; 11:14, 15and have made a king over you. 2And now, behold, the king #[ch. 8:20; Num. 27:17] walks before you, #ch. 8:1, 5and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before #ch. 24:6; 26:9, 11, 16; 2 Sam. 1:14, 16; [ch. 10:1] his anointed. #[Ex. 20:17; Num. 16:15]Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me#12:3 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and #[See ver. 3 above] his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything #Ex. 21:16; 22:4in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
6And Samuel said to the people, #[Mic. 6:4]“The Lord is witness,#12:6 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8#Gen. 46:5, 6 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,#12:8 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and the Egyptians oppressed them #Ex. 2:23 then your fathers cried out to the Lord and #Ex. 3:10; 4:14-16 the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, #[ch. 10:18]who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9But #Judg. 3:7 they forgot the Lord their God. #Judg. 4:2 And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,#12:9 Septuagint the army of Jabin king of Hazor #Judg. 10:7; 13:1; [Judg. 3:31] and into the hand of the Philistines, #Judg. 3:12and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10#Judg. 10:10; [Judg. 3:9] And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord #Judg. 2:13 and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now #Judg. 10:15deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11And the Lord sent #Judg. 6:14, 32 Jerubbaal #Judg. 4:6, 8, 10 and Barak#12:11 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Bedan #Judg. 11:1 and Jephthah and #See ch. 7:10-13Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12And when you saw that #ch. 11:1 Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, #ch. 8:5, 19 you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ #[ch. 8:7; 10:19; Judg. 8:23]when the Lord your God was your king. 13And now #ch. 10:24 behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, #ch. 9:16, 17; [Hos. 13:11]the Lord has set a king over you. 14If you will #ver. 24; Deut. 6:2; Josh. 24:14fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15But #Lev. 26:14, 15; Deut. 28:15; Josh. 24:20 if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then #ch. 5:9 the hand of the Lord will be against you and #[ver. 9]your king.#12:15 Septuagint; Hebrew fathers 16Now therefore #Ex. 14:13stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. 17#[Prov. 26:1] Is it not wheat harvest today? #ch. 7:9, 10; [James 5:16-18] I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that #ch. 8:7your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, #Ex. 14:31; [Ezra 10:9]and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19And all the people said to Samuel, #ver. 23; [Ex. 9:28; 10:17; Jer. 15:1]“Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet #Deut. 11:16do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21And #[See ver. 20 above] do not turn aside after #Jer. 16:19; Hab. 2:18; [1 Cor. 8:4]empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22#1 Kgs. 6:13; Ps. 94:14; [1 Kgs. 8:57] For the Lord will not forsake his people, #Josh. 7:9; Ps. 106:8; Jer. 14:21; Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22 for his great name’s sake, because #Deut. 7:7, 8; 14:2; [1 Pet. 2:9]it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 23Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing #See ver. 19 to pray for you, #1 Kgs. 8:36; 2 Chr. 6:27; Ps. 27:11; [Prov. 4:11; Jer. 6:16]and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24#ver. 14; [Eccles. 12:13] Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider #Deut. 10:21; Ps. 126:2, 3what great things he has done for you. 25But if you still do wickedly, #Josh. 24:20; [Num. 16:26] you shall be swept away, #[Deut. 28:36]both you and your king.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 12
12
Samuel's farewell speech
1Samuel told the Israelites:
I have given you a king, just as you asked. 2You have seen how I have led you ever since I was a young man. I'm already old. My hair is grey, and my own sons are grown up. Now you must see how well your king will lead you.
3Let me ask this. Have I ever taken anyone's ox or donkey or forced you to give me anything? Have I ever hurt anyone or taken a bribe to give an unfair decision? Answer me so the LORD and his chosen king can hear you. And if I have done any of these things, I will give it all back.
4“No,” the Israelites answered. “You've never cheated us in any way!”
5Samuel said, “The LORD and his chosen king are witnesses to what you have said.”
“That's true,” they replied.
6Then Samuel told them:#Ex 6.26.
The LORD brought your ancestors out of Egypt and chose Moses and Aaron to be your leaders. 7Now the LORD will be your judge. So stand here and listen, while I remind you how often the LORD has saved you and your ancestors from your enemies.
8After Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the LORD for help, and he sent Moses and Aaron. They led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this land.#Ex 2.23. 9But your ancestors forgot the LORD, so he let them be defeated by the Philistines, the king of Moab, and Sisera, the commander of Hazor's army.#Jg 4.2; Jg 13.1; Jg 3.12.
10Again your ancestors cried out to the LORD for help. They said, “We have sinned! We stopped worshipping you, our LORD, and started worshipping Baal and Astarte. But now, if you rescue us from our enemies, we will worship you.”#Jg 10.10-15.
11The LORD sent Gideon,#12.11 Gideon: The Hebrew text has “Jerubbaal”, another name for “Gideon”. Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel to rescue you from your enemies, and you didn't have to worry about being attacked.#Jg 7.1; Jg 4.6; Jg 11.29; 1 S 3.20. 12Then you saw that King Nahash of Ammon was going to attack you. And even though the LORD your God is your king, you told me, “This time it's different. We want a king to rule us!”#1 S 8.19.
13You asked for a king, and you chose one. Now he stands here where all of you can see him. But it was really the LORD who made him your king. 14If you and your king want to be followers of the LORD, you must worship him#12.14 If…him: Or “If you and your king want things to go well for you, then you must worship the LORD.” and do what he says. Don't be stubborn! 15If you're stubborn and refuse to obey the LORD, he will turn against you and your king.#12.15 and your king: One ancient translation; Hebrew “and your ancestors” or “as he was against your ancestors”.
16Just stand here and watch the LORD show his mighty power. 17Isn't this the dry season?#12.17 the dry season: The Hebrew text has “time for wheat harvest”, which was usually in the spring, the beginning of the dry season. I'm going to ask the LORD to send a thunderstorm. When you see it, you will realize how wrong you were to ask for a king.
18Samuel prayed, and that same day the LORD sent a thunderstorm. Everyone was afraid of the LORD and of Samuel. 19They told Samuel, “Please, pray to the LORD your God for us! We don't want to die. We have sinned many times in the past, and we were very wrong to ask for a king.”
20Samuel answered:
Even though what you did was wrong, you don't need to be afraid. But you must always follow the LORD and worship him with all your heart. 21Don't worship idols! They don't have any power, and they can't help you or save you when you're in trouble. 22But the LORD has chosen you to be his own people. He will always take care of you so that everyone will know how great he is.
23I would be disobeying the LORD if I stopped praying for you! I will always teach you how to live right. 24You also must obey the LORD—you must worship him with all your heart and remember the great things he has done for you. 25But if you and your king do evil, the LORD will wipe you out.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012