Samuel’s Farewell Speech

12 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have ·done everything you wanted me to do [listened to everything you said] and have ·put [appointed] a king over you. ² Now you have a king ·to lead [walking before/in front of] you. I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have ·been your leader [walked before/in front of you] since I was young [^Luntil this day]. ³ Here I am. ·If I have done anything wrong, you must testify [Bear witness] against me before the Lord and his ·appointed king [anointed]. Did I steal anyone’s ox or donkey? Did I ·hurt [oppress] or cheat anyone? Did I ever secretly accept a bribe to ·look the other way [^Lclose my eyes]? If I did any of these things, I will make ·it right [amends].”

⁴ The Israelites answered, “You have not cheated us, or ·hurt [oppressed] us, or taken anything ·unfairly from anyone [from anyone’s hand].”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness ·to what you have said [against you]. His ·appointed [anointed] king is also a witness today that you did not find anything ·wrong in me [^Lin my hand].”

“He is our witness,” they said.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who ·chose [appointed; ^Lmade] Moses and Aaron and brought your ·ancestors [fathers] out of Egypt. ⁷ Now, ·stand there [or take your stand], and I will ·remind you of [plead with you/confront you concerning] all the ·good things [righteous/saving acts] the Lord did for you and your ·ancestors [fathers].

⁸ “After Jacob [^Cthe Israelites] ·entered [went to; arrived in] Egypt, ·his descendants [they] cried to the Lord for help. So the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your ·ancestors [fathers] out of Egypt and ·brought them to live [settled them] in this place.

⁹ “But they forgot the Lord their God. So he ·handed them over as slaves [sold them] to Sisera [Judg. 4–5], the commander of the army of Hazor, and ·as slaves to [into the hand of] the Philistines [Judg. 13–16] and the king of Moab. ·They all […all of whom had] fought against your ·ancestors [fathers]. ¹⁰ Then your ancestors cried to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned. We have ·left [turned away from; forsaken] the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths [^Cgods and goddesses of the Canaanites]. But now ·save [rescue; deliver] us from [^Lthe hand of] our enemies, and we will ·serve [worship] you.’ ¹¹ So the Lord sent ·Gideon [^LJerubbaal; ^Canother name for Gideon; Judg. 6:32], ·Barak [^LBedan; Judg. 4:6], Jephthah [Judg. 11–12], and Samuel. He ·saved [rescued; delivered] you from [^Lthe hands of] your enemies around you, and you lived in ·safety [security]. ¹² But when you saw Nahash king of the ·Ammonites [^Lsons of Ammon] ·coming [marching] against you, you said, ‘No! We want a king to ·rule [reign] over us!’—even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ ·Now [All right; So] here is the king you chose, the one you asked for. The Lord has ·put [set; appointed] him over you. ¹⁴ ·You must [If you…] ·honor [fear] the Lord and ·serve [worship] him. You must ·obey [listen to] his ·word [voice] and not ·turn [rebel] against ·his commands [^Lthe mouth of the Lord]. Both you and the king ·ruling [reigning] over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, it will be well with you. ¹⁵ But if you don’t ·obey [listen to the voice of] the Lord, and if you ·turn [rebel] against ·his commands [^Lthe mouth of the Lord], ·he [the hand of the Lord] will be ·against [heavy on] you. ·He will do to you what he did to […as it was on] your ·ancestors [fathers].

¹⁶ “Now stand ·still [where you are] and see the ·great thing [wonder; ^Lthing] the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷ ·It is [Is it not…?] now the time of the wheat harvest [^Cthe dry season]. I will pray for the Lord to send thunder and rain [^Cthe rain would destroy the wheat harvest]. Then you will know what an ·evil [wicked] thing you did ·against [in the eyes/sight of] the Lord when you ·asked for [demanded] a king.”

¹⁸ Then Samuel ·prayed [called] to the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So the people were ·very afraid [in awe] of the Lord and Samuel. ¹⁹ ·They [^LAll the people] said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants! Don’t let us die! We’ve added to all our sins the evil of ·asking for [demanding] a king.”

²⁰ Samuel answered [^Lthe people], “Don’t be afraid. It’s true that you did ·wrong [evil], but don’t turn away from the Lord. ·Serve [Worship] the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ ·Idols [Futile things] are of no use, so don’t worship them. They can’t help you or ·save [rescue; deliver] you. They are ·useless [futile]! ²² For his own [^Lname’s] sake, the Lord won’t ·leave [abandon; reject; desert] his people. ·Instead, [For; Because] he was pleased to make you his own people. ²³ [^LAs for me,] ·I will surely not [Far be it from me to] stop praying for you, because that would be sinning against the Lord. I will ·teach [instruct] you ·what [in the way that] is good and right. ²⁴ ·You must honor [Fear only] the Lord and ·truly serve [worship] him with all your heart. ·Remember [Keep in mind; Consider] the ·wonderful [great] things he did for you! ²⁵ But if you ·are stubborn and do [persist in doing] evil, he will sweep you and your king away.”