1 Samuel 12

Samuel’s Farewell Address

1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed a your voice in all that you have said to me b and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king c walks before you, d and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the  Lord and before e his anointed. f 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 ▼
▼ Septuagint; Hebrew lacks  Testify against me
 and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The  Lord is witness against you, and h his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything i in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

6 And Samuel said to the people, j “The  Lord is witness, ▼
▼ Septuagint; Hebrew lacks  is witness
 who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now 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  l When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, ▼
▼ Septuagint; Hebrew lacks  and the Egyptians oppressed them
 n then your fathers cried out to the  Lord and o the  Lord sent Moses and Aaron p who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But q they forgot the  Lord their God. r And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, ▼
▼ Septuagint  the army of Jabin king of Hazor
 t and into the hand of the Philistines, u and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10  v And they cried out to the  Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the  Lord w and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now x deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11 And the  Lord sent y Jerubbaal z and Barak ▼
▼ Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Bedan
 ab and Jephthah and ac Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that ad Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, ae you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ af when the  Lord your God was your king. 13 And now ag behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, ah the  Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will ai fear 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. 15 But aj if you will not obey the voice of the  Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the  Lord, then ak the hand of the  Lord will be against you and al your king. ▼
▼ Septuagint; Hebrew fathers
 16 Now therefore an stand still and see this great thing that the  Lord will do before your eyes. 17  ao Is it not wheat harvest today? ap I will call upon the  Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that aq your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the  Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the  Lord, and the  Lord sent thunder and rain that day, ar and all the people greatly feared the  Lord and Samuel.

19 And all the people said to Samuel, as “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.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet at do not turn aside from following the  Lord, but serve the  Lord with all your heart. 21 And au do not turn aside after av empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22  aw For the  Lord will not forsake his people ax for his great name’s sake, because ay it has pleased the  Lord to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the  Lord by ceasing az to pray for you, ba and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24  bb Only fear the  Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider bc what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, bd you shall be swept away, be both you and your king.”

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