1 Samuel 12

¹ Samuel said to all Israel, 'I have faithful y done al that you asked of me, and have appointed you aking.

² In future, the king will lead you. As for me, I am old and grey, and in any case you have my sons. Ihave been your leader ever since I was young until today.

³ Here I am. Bear witness against me before Yahweh and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken?Whose donkey have I taken? Have I wronged or oppressed anyone? Have I taken a consideration from anyonefor looking the other way? If so, I wil make amends.'

⁴ They said, 'You have neither wronged nor oppressed us nor accepted anything from anyone.'

⁵ He said to them, 'Yahweh is your witness and his anointed is witness today that you have foundnothing in my hands?' They replied, 'He is witness.'

⁶ Samuel then said to the people, 'Yahweh is witness, he who raised up Moses and Aaron and whobrought your ancestors out of Egypt.

⁷ So now, stay where you are, while I plead with you before Yahweh and remind you of al the savingacts which he has done for you and for your ancestors.

⁸ After Jacob had arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians oppressed them, and your ancestors cried to Yahweh.Yahweh then sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and gave them a settled homehere.

⁹ They then forgot Yahweh their God and he sold them into the power of Sisera, general of the army ofHazor, and also into the power of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, who made war on them.

¹⁰ They cried to Yahweh, "We have sinned," they said, "for we have deserted Yahweh and served theBaals and the Astartes. Rescue us now from the power of our enemies, and we wil serve you."

¹¹ Yahweh then sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. He rescued you from the power of theenemies surrounding you, and you lived in security.

¹² 'But when you saw Nahash, king of the Ammonites, marching on you, you said to me, "No, we musthave a king to rule us"-although Yahweh your God is your king.

¹³ So, here is the king whom you have chosen; Yahweh has appointed you a king.

¹⁴ If you fear and serve Yahweh and obey his voice and do not rebel against his commands, and if bothyou and the king who rules you follow Yahweh your God, al wil be wel .

¹⁵ But if you do not obey Yahweh's voice but rebel against his commands, Yahweh's hand wil beagainst you and against your king.

¹⁶ 'Stay where you are and see the wonder which Yahweh wil do before your eyes.

¹⁷ Is it not now the wheat harvest? I shal call on Yahweh and he will send thunder and rain, so that youmay clearly understand what a very wicked thing you have done, in Yahweh's eyes, by asking for a king.'

¹⁸ Samuel then cal ed on Yahweh, and Yahweh sent thunder and rain the same day, and al the peopleheld Yahweh and Samuel in great awe.

¹⁹ They al said to Samuel, 'Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, to save us from death; for to alour sins we have added this wrong of asking for a king.'

²⁰ Samuel said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. Although you have done al these wicked things, do notwithdraw your allegiance from Yahweh. Instead, serve Yahweh with al your heart.

²¹ Do not transfer your al egiance to useless idols which, being useless, are futile and cannot saveanybody;

²² Yahweh, for the sake of his great name, wil not desert his people, for it has pleased Yahweh tomake you his people.

²³ For my part, far be it from me to sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you or to instruct you inthe good and right way.

²⁴ Fear none but Yahweh, and serve him faithful y with al your heart, bearing in mind the wonder whichhe has just performed. But, if you persist in wickedness, you and your king will perish.'