I Samuel 12 · שמואל א

And Shemu᾽el said to all Yisra᾽el, Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.

And now, behold, the king walks before you: and I am old and greyheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.

Behold, here I am: answer me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? and I will restore it you.

And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand,

And he said to them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

And Shemu᾽el said to the people, It is the Lord that made Moshe and Aharon, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Miżrayim.

Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.

When Ya῾aqov was come into Miżrayim, and your fathers cried to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moshe and Aharon, who brought your fathers out of Miżrayim, and made them dwell in this place.

And when they forgot the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Ḥażor, and into the hand of the Pelishtim, and into the hand of the king of Mo᾽av, and they fought against them.

And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Ba῾alim and the ῾Ashtarot: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve Thee.

And the Lord sent Yerubba῾al, and Bedan, and Yiftaĥ, and Shemu᾽el, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies round about, and you dwelled secure.

And when you saw that Naĥash the king of the children of ῾Ammon came against you, you said to me, No; but a king shall reign over us: when the Lord your God was your king.

Now therefore behold the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have desired! for behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and also the king that reigns over you will follow the Lord your God –

but if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.

Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.

Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain; that you may know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for a king for yourselves.

So Shemu᾽el called to the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Shemu᾽el.

And all the people said to Shemu᾽el, Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we die not: for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king for ourselves.

And Shemu᾽el said to the people, Fear not: you have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart;

and turn not aside: for then you should go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.

For the Lord will not abandon his people for his great name’s sake: because it has pleased the Lord to make you his people.

Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:

only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great are the things which he has done for you.

But if you shall still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.