1 Samuel chapter .xij.
¶ Then said Samuel unto all Israel: behold I have obeyed your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made you a king.
And see your king walketh before you. But I am old and gray headed: and behold my sons are with you and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
Behold here I am: answer me before the LORD and before his anointed, whose ox have I taken, or whose Ass have I taken? whom have I done wrong to? or whom have I pilled? And of whose hand have I received any bribe, to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you again.
And they said thou hast done us no wrong, nor pilled us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.
Then said he to them: the LORD is witness unto you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have found nought in my hands. And they answered: we are witnesses.
¶ Then said Samuel unto the people it is the LORD that made Moses and Aaron, and which brought your fathers out of Egypt.
Now therefore stond still, and let me reason with you before the LORD, of all the righteousnesses of the LORD which he shewed both you and your fathers.
After that Iacob was come into Egypt, your fathers cried unto the LORD, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
Neverthelater they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisara chief captain of Iabin king of Nazor, and into the hands of the philistines and into the hands of the king of Moab, which fought against them.
Then they cried unto the LORD and said: we have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served Baalim and Astharoth. But now deliver us out of the hands of our enemies and we will serve thee.
And the LORD sent Ierobaal, Badan, Iephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every side, so that ye dwelled without fear.
And for all that when you saw that Nahas the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me: not so, a king shall reign over us, when yet the LORD your God was your king.
Now therefore behold the king, whom ye have chosen and whom ye have desired: see, the LORD hath given you a king;
Oh that ye would fear the LORD and serve him and hear his voice and not disobey the mouth of the LORD: and that both ye and the king that reigneth over you would follow the LORD your God.
For if ye shall not hearken unto the voice of the LORD, but shall disobey the LORD's mouth: then shall the hand of the LORD be upon you and on your fathers.
¶ Now also stond and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes:
is it not now wheat harvest. And yet for all that, I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain. Wherefore perceive and understand: how that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the LORD in asking you a king.
And when Samuel called unto the LORD, the LORD sent thunder and rain the same day. And all the people feared the LORD and Samuel exceedingly.
Then said all the people unto Samuel: pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have sinned in asking us a king, beside all the sins that ever we did.
Then said Samuel unto the people: fear not. And though ye have done all this wickedness yet depart not from the LORD in any case. But serve him with all your hearts.
Neither turn ye after vain things which can not deliver you, for they are but vanities.
But the LORD will not forsake his people, because of his great name's sake: because the LORD hath begun to make you his people.
Moreover God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in leaving praying for you and to shew you the good and right way.
Only fear you the LORD and serve him truly with all your hearts: for he hath done great things for you.
But and if ye shall do wickedly: then shall both ye and your king thereto perish.
Praise the Everlasting Lord for His Faithful Word.