1 And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and gray-headed; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth unto this day. 3 Here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand. 5 And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He is witness. 6 And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that appointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. 8 When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place. 9 But they forgat the LORD their God, and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10 And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. 11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled in safety. 12 And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for: and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. 14 If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and hearken unto his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you be followers of the LORD your God, [well]: 15 but if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain; and ye shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. 18 So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 19 And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins [this ]evil, to ask us a king. 20 And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have indeed done all this evil: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; 21 and turn ye not aside: for [then should ye go ]after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain. 22 For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you a people unto himself. 23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. 25 But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
1 Samuel · Revised Version with Apocrypha
1 Samuel 12 Revised Version with Apocrypha
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Nahash
King of the Ammonites who besieged Jabesh-gilead and demanded the right eye of every man there until Saul defeated him; his later kindness to David is recalled when David consoles…
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 11:1; 1 Samuel 11:2; 1 Samuel 12:12
Cross references (25)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Samuel 10:24; 1 Samuel 11:14–15; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 8:19–22; 1 Samuel 8:5–8
- 2 1 Samuel 8:5; 1 Samuel 8:20; 1 Samuel 8:1; Numbers 27:17; 1 Samuel 8:3
- 3 Acts 20:33; Numbers 16:15; Deuteronomy 16:19; 1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Peter 5:2
- 4 3 John 12; Psalm 37:5–6; Daniel 6:4
- 5 Exodus 22:4; Acts 24:20; Acts 23:9; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 4:4
- 6 Micah 6:4; Exodus 6:26; Psalm 99:6; Psalm 77:19–20; Psalm 105:41
- 7 Isaiah 1:18; Acts 17:3; Micah 6:1–5; Isaiah 5:3–4; Ezekiel 18:25–30
- 8 Exodus 4:14–16; Exodus 2:23–24; 1 Samuel 10:18; Genesis 46:5–7; Exodus 3:9–10
- 9 Judges 4:2; Judges 10:7; Judges 3:12; Judges 13:1; Deuteronomy 32:18
- 10 Judges 2:13; Judges 10:10; Judges 3:7; Judges 10:15–16; Judges 3:9
- 11 Judges 6:32; Judges 4:6; Judges 6:14; Judges 8:35; 1 Samuel 7:13
- 12 Judges 8:23; 1 Samuel 8:5–7; Genesis 17:7; 1 Samuel 10:19; 1 Samuel 11:1–2
- 13 Hosea 13:11; 1 Samuel 10:24; 1 Samuel 8:5; 1 Samuel 9:20; 1 Samuel 11:15
- 14 Joshua 24:14; Deuteronomy 28:1–14; Joshua 24:20; Psalm 81:12–15; Isaiah 3:10
- 15 Joshua 24:20; Isaiah 1:20; 1 Samuel 12:9; Isaiah 3:11; Leviticus 26:14–30
- 16 Exodus 14:13; Exodus 14:31; 1 Samuel 12:7; 1 Samuel 15:16
- 17 1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 7:9–10; Proverbs 26:1; James 5:16–18; Psalm 99:6
- 18 Exodus 14:31; Ezra 10:9; Exodus 9:23–25; Psalm 106:12–13; Revelation 11:5–6
- 19 Exodus 9:28; 1 John 5:16; 1 Samuel 12:23; Exodus 10:17; 1 Samuel 7:5
- 20 Deuteronomy 11:16; Joshua 23:6; Psalm 101:3; Psalm 125:5; 1 Peter 3:16
- 21 Habakkuk 2:18; Jeremiah 16:19; Jeremiah 10:15; Deuteronomy 11:16; Jeremiah 14:22
- 22 Deuteronomy 14:2; Psalm 106:8; Philippians 1:6; 1 Kings 6:13; Jeremiah 14:21
- 23 Colossians 1:9; Romans 1:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Kings 8:36
- 24 Deuteronomy 10:21; Proverbs 1:7; Isaiah 5:12; Hebrews 12:29; Psalm 126:2–3
- 25 Joshua 24:20; Hosea 10:3; Deuteronomy 28:36; 1 Samuel 31:1–5; Isaiah 3:11
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
or if I have received from the hand of any a bribe or [so much as] a shoe, speak out against me, and I will restore it to you." And when the people had said to him, "Thou hast not tyrannized, neither hast thou oppressed us neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand," he called the Lord to …