1 Samuel 12
Samuel resigns his position
1 Then Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have heard your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have put a king over you.
2 Now therefore, behold, the king goes before you, and I have grown old and gray, and behold, my children are with you, and I have walked before you from my youth to this day.
3 Here I am, testify against me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whom I took the ox, whom I took the donkey, and whom I defrauded, whom I have oppressed, and whose hand I have taken with and with he covered my eyes, and I will restore it to you.
4 Then they said, You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from anyone's hand.
5 And he said to them, The Lord be a witness against you, and his anointed be a witness today, that you have found nothing in my hand. And the people said, Be a witness.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt.
7 Now therefore, stand here here, and I will contend with you before the Lord, over all the righteousnesses of the Lord, which he has done for you and your parents.
8 When Jacob came into Egypt, your fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your fathers out of Egypt and made them live in this place.
9 But they forgot the Lord their God: so he handed them over to Sisera, the head of Hazor's army, and to the Philistines, and to the king of the Moabites, who fought against them.
10 And they cried out to the Lord, and said, We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord, and we have served the Baals and astarotes: now for deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.
11 And the Lord sent Jerubaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel; and he saved you from the hand of your enemies around you, and you lived safe.
12 And when you saw that Nahash, king of the children of Ammon, was coming against you, you said to me, No, but a king will reign over us; but the Lord is your God, your King.
13 Now therefore you see the king that you have chosen and that you have asked for; and, behold, the Lord has put a king over you.
14 If you fear the Lord, and serve him and listen to his voice, and do not rebel against the Lord, then you, like the king who reigns over you, will follow the Lord your God.
15 But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rather rebel against the saying of the Lord, the hand of the Lord will be against you as it was against your parents.
16 Put yourselves here now, and see this great thing that the Lord is going to do before your eyes.
17 Isn't the wheat harvest today? I will therefore cry out to the Lord, and it will give thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness that you have done before the Lord is great, asking you for a king.
18 Then Samuel called on the Lord, and the Lord gave thunder and rain that day; so all the people were very afraid of the Lord and Samuel.
19 And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die: for we have added this evil to all our sins, that we ask for a king for ourselves.
20 Then Samuel said to the people, Do not be afraid: you have done all this evil; but do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
21 And do not go astray: for you will follow vanities, which profit nothing, and will not deliver you either, for vanities are.
22 For the Lord will not forsake his people because of his great name: because the Lord has pleased to make his people for you.
23 And as for me, far be it from me that I sin against the Lord and stop praying for you: first, I will teach you the good and right way.
24 Only fear the Lord, and serve him faithfully with all your heart: for see how great things he has done to you.
25 But if you persevere in doing evil, you will perish, just as you are your king.