Old Testament · History

1 Samuel chapter 12

Samuel said to all of Israel, “Look — I’ve done everything you asked. I gave you a to lead you.Now you have a king . As for me, I’m old and gray, and my sons are right here among you. I’ve been your leader since I was young — right up to today.Here I am. Bring any accusation against me right now, in front of and in front of : Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Who have I cheated? Who have I exploited? From whose hand have I taken a to look the other way? Tell me, and I’ll make it right.”They answered, “You’ve never cheated us. You’ve never exploited us. You’ve never taken anything from anyone’s hand.”He said to them, “Yahweh is against you today, and his chosen king is witness, that you haven’t found anything wrong with me.” They replied, “He is witness.”Then Samuel said to the people, “Yahweh is the one who Moses and Aaron, and who brought your ancestors up from the land of .Now take your stand here. I’m going to lay out my case against you before Yahweh — all the Yahweh has done for you and your ancestors.When Jacob went to Egypt and your ancestors to Yahweh, Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this land.But they Yahweh their God. So he to Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab, who all fought against them.Then they cried out to Yahweh and said, ‘We’ve — we abandoned Yahweh and served the and the . But now us from our enemies, and we’ll serve you.’So Yahweh sent , Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and he rescued you from the enemies all around you, and you .But when you saw that , king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No — we want a king to rule over us!’ — even though .So now — here’s the king you chose, the one you asked for. Look: Yahweh has placed a king over you.If you Yahweh and serve him and listen to his voice and don’t against what Yahweh commands, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow Yahweh your God — good.But if you don’t listen to Yahweh’s voice and you rebel against what he commands, then , just as it was against your ancestors.Now stand here and watch this Yahweh is about to do right in front of your eyes.Isn’t it right now? I’m going to call on Yahweh, and he’ll send thunder and rain. Then you’ll understand and see how it was in Yahweh’s eyes — what you did when you asked for a king.”Samuel called on Yahweh, and that same day Yahweh sent thunder and rain. All the people were of Yahweh and of Samuel.All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh your God for us — your — so we don’t die! Because on top of all our other , we’ve added this wrong: asking for a king.”Samuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Yes, you’ve done all this wrong. But don’t turn away from following Yahweh. Serve Yahweh .Don’t turn away to chase after that can’t help you or you — because they’re nothing.Yahweh will not his people, because of — because to make you his own people.As for me — I would never by stopping my prayers for you. I’ll keep teaching you .Just Yahweh and serve him with everything you have. Think about the he’s done for you.But if you keep , both you and your king will be .”