Samuel’s Farewell Speech

12 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened^(A) to everything you said to me and have set a king^(B) over you. ² Now you have a king as your leader.^(C) As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons^(D) are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. ³ Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed.^(E) Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey^(F) have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe^(G) to make me shut my eyes? If I have done^(H) any of these things, I will make it right.”^(I)

⁴ “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness^(J) against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything^(K) in my hand.^(L)”

“He is witness,” they said.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought^(M) your ancestors up out of Egypt. ⁷ Now then, stand^(N) here, because I am going to confront^(O) you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts^(P) performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors.

⁸ “After Jacob^(Q) entered Egypt, they cried^(R) to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent^(S) Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹ “But they forgot^(T) the Lord their God; so he sold them^(U) into the hand of Sisera,^(V) the commander of the army of Hazor,^(W) and into the hands of the Philistines^(X) and the king of Moab,^(Y) who fought against them. ¹⁰ They cried^(Z) out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken^(AA) the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths.^(AB) But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹ Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal,^[a](AC) Barak,^[b](AD) Jephthah^(AE) and Samuel,^[c](AF) and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

¹² “But when you saw that Nahash^(AG) king^(AH) of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule^(AI) over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ Now here is the king^(AJ) you have chosen, the one you asked^(AK) for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you fear^(AL) the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel^(AM) against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! ¹⁵ But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against^(AN) his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.