Samuel’s Final Public Speech

12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you.(A) Now you can see that the king is leading you. As for me, I’m old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until now. Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and his anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken?(B) Who have I wronged or mistreated? Who gave me a bribe to overlook something?[a](C) I will return it to you.”

“You haven’t wronged us, you haven’t mistreated us, and you haven’t taken anything from anyone,” they responded.

He said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you, and his anointed is a witness today that you haven’t found anything(D) in my hand.”(E)

“He is a witness,” they said.

Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord, who appointed Moses and Aaron(F) and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt, is a witness.[b] Now present yourselves, so I may confront you before the Lord about all the righteous acts he has done for you and your ancestors.

“When Jacob went to Egypt,[c] your ancestors cried out to the Lord,(G) and he sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.(H) But they forgot the Lord their God, so he handed them over to Sisera(I) commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab.(J) These enemies fought against them. 10 Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshiped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the power of our enemies,(K) and we will serve you.’ 11 So the Lord sent Jerubbaal,(L) Barak,[d](M) Jephthah,(N) and Samuel.(O) He rescued you from the power of the enemies around you, and you lived securely. 12 But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king reign over us’—even though the Lord your God is your king.

13 “Now here is the king you’ve chosen,(P) the one you requested.(Q) Look, this is the king the Lord has placed over you. 14 If you fear the Lord,(R) worship and obey him, and if you don’t rebel against the Lord’s command, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 However, if you disobey the Lord(S) and rebel against his command, the Lord’s hand will be against you(T) as it was against your ancestors.[e](U)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 12:3 LXX reads bribe or a pair of shoes? Testify against me.
  2. 12:6 LXX; MT omits is a witness
  3. 12:8 LXX reads “When Jacob and his sons went to Egypt and Egypt humbled them
  4. 12:11 LXX, Syr; MT reads Bedan; Jdg 4:6; Heb 11:32
  5. 12:15 LXX against you and against your king

Samuel’s Farewell

12 Then Samuel told all Israel, “Take note! I’ve listened to you, to everything you have told me, and I’ve appointed a king over you. Now here is the king walking before you,[a] while I’m old and gray, and my sons are with you. I’ve walked before you[b] from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me in the Lord’s presence and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken? Who have I cheated? Who have I oppressed? Who bribed me to look the other way?[c] I’ll restore it to you.”

They said, “You haven’t cheated us or oppressed us, and you haven’t taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

He told them, “Today the Lord is testifying, along with his anointed, that you haven’t found any bribes in my possession.”

They said, “He’s a witness.”

Then Samuel told the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up out of the land of Egypt. Now stand up and I’ll pass judgment on you in light of the Lord’s righteous acts that he did for you and your ancestors. After Jacob went to Egypt, and your ancestors cried out to the Lord, he sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God, so he handed them over to the domination of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into domination by the Philistines and by the king of Moab, and Israel fought against them.

10 “Then they cried out to the Lord: ‘We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served[d] the Baals[e] and the Ashtaroth.[f] Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve[g] you.’ 11 Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal,[h] Barak,[i] Jephthah, and Samuel and he delivered you from the hand of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely. 12 But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming to fight you, you told me, ‘No, let a king rule over us instead,’ even though the Lord your God was your king.

13 “Now, here is the king you have chosen, the one whom you asked for. See, the Lord has appointed a king over you. 14 If you fear the Lord, serve him, obey him, and don’t rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who rules over you will truly follow the Lord your God. 15 But if you don’t obey the Lord and rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the Lord will turn against you as he did against your ancestors.[j]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 12:2 I.e. leading you
  2. 1 Samuel 12:2 I.e. led you
  3. 1 Samuel 12:3 Lit. From whose hand did I accept a bribe to blind my eyes
  4. 1 Samuel 12:10 Or worshipped
  5. 1 Samuel 12:10 I.e. images representing the Canaanite storm god
  6. 1 Samuel 12:10 I.e. trees or other symbols representing the Canaanite deity Asherah
  7. 1 Samuel 12:10 Or worship
  8. 1 Samuel 12:11 I.e. Gideon
  9. 1 Samuel 12:11 So LXX and Syr; MT reads Bedan
  10. 1 Samuel 12:15 Lit. and against your ancestors