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NASB Bible

1 Samuel 12

Samuel Addresses Israel

1

Then Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold,  aI have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I  bhave  1appointed a king over you.

2

"Now,  ahere is the king walking before you, but  bI am old and gray, and behold  cmy sons are with you. And  dI have walked before you from my youth even to this day.

3

"Here I am; bear witness against me before the LORD and  aHis anointed.  bWhose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or  cfrom whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you."

4

They said, "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand."

5

He said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that  ayou have found nothing  bin my hand." And they said, "He is witness."

6

Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who  1 aappointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.

7

"So now, take your stand,  athat I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did for you and your fathers.

8

aWhen Jacob went into Egypt and  byour fathers cried out to the LORD, then  cthe LORD sent Moses and Aaron  1 dwho brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

9

"But  athey forgot the LORD their God, so  bHe sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and  cinto the hand of the Philistines and  dinto the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

10

aThey cried out to the LORD and said, `We have sinned because we have forsaken the LORD and have served  bthe Baals and the Ashtaroth; but  cnow deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.'

11

"Then the LORD sent  aJerubbaal and  1 bBedan and  cJephthah and  dSamuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.

The King Confirmed

12

"When you saw  athat Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ` bNo, but a king shall reign over us,'  calthough the LORD your God was your king.

13

"Now therefore,  ahere is the king whom you have chosen,  bwhom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you.

14

aIf you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the  1command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.

15

aIf you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the  1command of the LORD, then  bthe hand of the LORD will be against you,  cas it was against your fathers.

16

"Even now,  atake your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes.

17

aIs it not the wheat harvest today?  bI will call to the LORD, that He may send  1thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that  cyour wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king."

18

So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent  1thunder and rain that day; and  aall the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

19

Then all the people said to Samuel, " aPray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins  bthis evil by asking for ourselves a king."

20

Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet  ado not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

21

"You must not turn aside, for then you would go after  afutile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile.

22

"For  athe LORD will not abandon His people  bon account of His great name, because the LORD  chas been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

23

"Moreover, as for me,  afar be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but  bI will instruct you in the good and right way.

24

aOnly  1fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider  bwhat great things He has done for you.

25

aBut if you still do wickedly,  bboth you and your king  cwill be swept away."



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:23:07 2007)

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