1 Samuel 12:1-13 ▼

1 And Samuel says to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice, to all that you said to me, and I cause a king to reign over you,

2 and now, behold, the king is habitually walking before you, and I have become aged and gray-headed, and my sons, behold, they [are] with you, and I have habitually walked before you from my youth until this day.

3 Behold, here I [am]; testify against me before YHWH, and before His anointed; whose ox have I taken, and whose donkey have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide my eyes with it? And I restore [it] to you.”

4 And they say, “You have not oppressed us, nor have you crushed us, nor have you taken anything from the hand of anyone.”

5 And he says to them, “YHWH [is] a witness against you, and His anointed [is] a witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand”; and they say, “A witness.”

6 And Samuel says to the people, “YHWH [is] He who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought up your fathers out of the land of Egypt!

7 And now, station yourselves, and I judge you before YHWH, with all the righteous acts of YHWH, which He did with you, and with your fathers.

8 When Jacob has come to Egypt, and your fathers cry to YHWH, then YHWH sends Moses and Aaron, and they bring out your fathers from Egypt, and cause them to dwell in this place,

9 and they forget their God YHWH, and He sells them into the hand of Sisera, head of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fight against them,

10 and they cry to YHWH, and say, We have sinned, because we have forsaken YHWH, and serve the Ba‘alim, and Ashtaroth, and now, deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we serve You.

11 And YHWH sends Jerubba‘al, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivers you out of the hand of your surrounding enemies, and you dwell confidently.

12 And you see that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon has come against you, and you say to me, No, but a king reigns over us; and your God YHWH [is] your king!

13 And now, behold the king whom you have chosen—whom you have asked for! And behold, YHWH has placed a king over you.