1 Samuel 12

Then Samuel told all the Israelite people, “Now listen. I have given you a king to rule you. So I have now done everything you asked me to do.

And that king is now ruling you, as you can see. I have become too old to keep being the leader of Israel. You can tell that from my gray hair. You can also tell that from the fact that my sons are fully grown. I have been your leader ever since I was a boy. \*

If I have wronged anyone, tell me now while I stand before you. Do that while God is listening and while the king whom he has chosen is listening. Have I stolen an ox or donkey from anyone during all those years? Have I cheated anyone? Have I treated anyone badly? Have I accepted a bribe from anyone in exchange for ignoring the wrong things he was doing? If I have done any of these things, tell me, and I will repay anything I took.” \*

They replied, “No, you have never cheated anyone or oppressed anyone or accepted a bribe from anyone.”

Then Samuel told them, “God has heard you say this, and the king whom he has chosen has also heard you say this just now. You agree that I have not taken anything from anyone. {So you must also agree that they may punish anyone who later claims differently.}” The Israelites replied, “We acknowledge that God and the king have heard us say this {and that they may punish anyone who later claims differently}!” \*

Samuel then told them, “God was the one who appointed Moses and Aaron to lead our ancestors. He is the one who rescued our ancestors from slavery in Egypt.

Now while God is listening, stand there as defendants while I make the case that you should not have asked for a king instead of trusting God to rescue you. I will do that by reminding you of all the times when God rescued you and your ancestors. \*

When the Egyptians forced the Israelites to serve them as slaves, our ancestors pleaded with God to help them. God sent Moses and Aaron to rescue them from slavery and to bring them to this land, where they settled.

But our ancestors stopped being loyal to God as their God. So he allowed Sisera to defeat them. Sisera was the commander of the army of King Jabin, who ruled from the city of Hazor. God also allowed the armies of the Philistines and of the king of Moab to defeat our ancestors. \*

Then our ancestors pleaded with God to help them. They admitted, ‘God, we have sinned by forsaking you. We have worshiped idols that represent the god Baal and the goddess Ashtoreth. But if you rescue us from our enemies, we will worship you alone.’

So God sent men such as Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and me. We rescued you from the control of the enemies that surrounded you. As a result, you were able to live safely in this land again. \*

But when you saw that King Nahash of Ammon had come with his army to attack you, you were afraid. So you came to me and said, ‘Now we want a {warrior} king to lead us.’ You said that even though God your God was already your king!

Nevertheless, God has now appointed a king for you. So look, here is the king you wanted and asked for. \*

If you respect God and worship him as your God, and if you do what he tells you to do and not disobey what he says, then God your God will protect you and your king from your enemies.

But if you do not do what God tells you to do and you disobey what he says, then he will help your enemies to defeat you, just as he did to our ancestors. \*

Now stand here quietly and look at the great thing that God is about to do while you watch.

It is currently the time when you harvest your wheat crop {and ordinarily there is no rain}. But I will ask God to send a thunderstorm and make it rain. When you see that, you will realize that God considers that you have done a very wicked thing by requesting a king of your own.”

Then Samuel prayed to God, and God caused a thunderstorm to happen right then. This made all the people very afraid of God and of Samuel. \*

They cried out to Samuel, “We have sinned further {against God} by wickedly asking for a king of our own! So pray for us and ask God, the God you represent, not to kill us for doing that!”

Samuel told them, “Do not be afraid! You have done this evil thing just as I described, but do not stop living the way God wants you to live. Instead, serve God with complete commitment.

Do not abandon God and worship useless idols. Because they are truly useless, they can not benefit you or rescue you from your enemies. \*

God wants everyone in the world to know what a faithful God he is. So he will not abandon us after he gladly chose us to be his own people.

For my part, you can be sure that I will keep praying for you. If I did not, I would be sinning against God. I will also continue to teach you what the right things are to do. \*

But you must honor God and serve him genuinely with complete commitment. Bear in mind all the great things that he has done for you.

But you can be sure that if you do wicked things, God will destroy you and your king!” \*