Read Amplified Bible, 2015 1 Samuel 12 Bible Online

1 Samuel 12 - Amplified Bible, 2015 bible

1 Samuel 12

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

²And now, here is the king walking before you. As for me, I am old and gray, and here are my sons with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day.

³Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and [Saul] His anointed [if I have done someone wrong]. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes [to the truth]? [Tell me and] I will restore it to you."

⁴They said, "You have not exploited us or oppressed us or taken anything at all from a man's hand."

⁵Samuel said to them, "The LORD is a witness against you, and [Saul] His anointed is a witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand." And they answered, "He is a witness."

⁶Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers (ancestors) up from the land of Egypt.

⁷Now then, take your stand, so that I may plead and contend with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did for you and for your fathers.

⁸When Jacob [and his sons] had come into Egypt [and later when the Egyptians oppressed them] and your[1] fathers cried out to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹But when they forgot the LORD their God, He sold them into the hand of[2] Sisera, commander of Hazor's army, and into the hand of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

¹⁰They cried out to the LORD, saying, 'We have sinned because we have abandoned (rejected) the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now rescue us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.'

¹¹Then the LORD sent Jerubbaal (Gideon) and[3] Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and He rescued you from the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in security.

¹²But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites had come against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us'—although the LORD your God was your King.

¹³Now therefore, here is [Saul] the king whom you have chosen, and for whom you asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you.

¹⁴If you will fear the LORD [with awe and profound reverence] and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against His commandment, then both you and your king will follow the LORD your God [and it will be well].

¹⁵But if you do not listen to the Lord's voice, but rebel against His[4] command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you [to punish you], as it was against your fathers.

¹⁶So now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes.

¹⁷Is it not [the beginning of the] wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD and He will send thunder and rain; then you will know [without any doubt], and see that your evil which you have done is great in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king."

¹⁸So Samuel called to the LORD [in prayer], and He sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

¹⁹Then all the people said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants,[5] so that we will not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil—to ask for a king for ourselves."

²⁰Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid. You have [indeed] done all this evil; yet do not turn away from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

²¹You must not turn away, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or rescue, because they are futile.

²²The LORD will not abandon His people for His great name's sake, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

²³Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

²⁴Only fear the LORD [with awe and profound reverence] and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.

²⁵But if you still do evil, both you and your king will be swept away [to destruction]."