1 Samuel 12:1-17

1Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in everything that you have said to me and have appointed a king over you.

2And now, here is the king walking before you. As for me, I am old and gray, and here are my sons with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.

3Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and [Saul] His anointed [if I have done someone wrong]. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes [to the truth]? [Tell me and] I will restore it to you.”

4They said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us or taken anything at all from a man’s hand.”

5Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you, and [Saul] His anointed is a witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is a witness.”

6Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers (ancestors) up from the land of Egypt.

7Now then, take your stand, so that I may plead and contend with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and for your fathers.

8When Jacob [and his sons] had come into Egypt [and later when the Egyptians oppressed them] and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

9But when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of Hazor’s army, and into the hand of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

10They cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘We have sinned because we have abandoned (rejected) the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now rescue us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’

11Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal (Gideon) and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and He rescued you from the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in security.

12But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites had come against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us’—although the Lord your God was your King.

13Now therefore, here is [Saul] the king whom you have chosen, and for whom you asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you.

14If you will fear the Lord [with awe and profound reverence] and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against His commandment, then both you and your king will follow the Lord your God [and it will be well].

15But if you do not listen to the Lord’s voice, but rebel against His command, then the hand of the Lord will be against you [to punish you], as it was against your fathers.

16So now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.

17Is it not [the beginning of the] wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord and He will send thunder and rain; then you will know [without any doubt], and see that your evil which you have done is great in the sight of the Lord by asking for yourselves a king.”