1 Samuel 12:1-12

1Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, 1I have listened to your voice for all that you said to me, and I 2have appointed a king over you. 2Now, 3here is the king walking before you, but as for me, 4I am old and gray, and 5my sons are here with you. And 6I have walked before you since my youth to this day. 3Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and 7His anointed. 8Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed, or 9from whose hand have I taken a bribe to close my eyes with it? I will return it to you.” 4And they said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us, or taken anything from anyone’s hand.” 5So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that 10you have found nothing 11in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

6Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who 1213appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7Now then, take your stand, 14so that I may enter into judgment with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord that He did for you and your fathers. 815When Jacob went into Egypt and 16your fathers cried out to the Lord, then 17the Lord sent Moses and Aaron 1819who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9But 20they forgot the Lord their God, so 21He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and 22into the hand of the Philistines, and 23into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 1024They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have abandoned the Lord and have served 25the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but 26now save us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ 11Then the Lord sent 27Jerubbaal, 2829Bedan, 30Jephthah, and 31Samuel, and saved you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security. 12But when you saw 32that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon was coming against you, you said to me, ‘33No, but a king shall reign over us!’ 34Yet the Lord your God was your king.