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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>1 Samuel 12 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_samuel/12.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_samuel/12-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > 1 Samuel 12</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/11.htm" title="1 Samuel 11">◄</a> 1 Samuel 12 <a href="../1_samuel/13.htm" title="1 Samuel 13">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/1_samuel/12.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">Samuel’s Farewell Speech</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the <span class="name">Lord</span> and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Samuel said to them, “The <span class="name">Lord</span> is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”</p><p class="reg">“He is witness,” they said.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the <span class="name">Lord</span> who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the <span class="name">Lord</span> as to all the righteous acts performed by the <span class="name">Lord</span> for you and your ancestors.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>“After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the <span class="name">Lord</span> for help, and the <span class="name">Lord</span> sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“But they forgot the <span class="name">Lord</span> their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>They cried out to the <span class="name">Lord</span> and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the <span class="name">Lord</span> and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Then the <span class="name">Lord</span> sent Jerub-Baal, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Also called Gideon">a</a></sup></span> Barak, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew Bedan">b</a></sup></span> Jephthah and Samuel, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac Samson">c</a></sup></span> and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the <span class="name">Lord</span> your God was your king. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the <span class="name">Lord</span> has set a king over you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>If you fear the <span class="name">Lord</span> and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the <span class="name">Lord</span> your God—good! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>But if you do not obey the <span class="name">Lord</span>, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the <span class="name">Lord</span> is about to do before your eyes! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the <span class="name">Lord</span> to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the <span class="name">Lord</span> when you asked for a king.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Then Samuel called on the <span class="name">Lord</span>, and that same day the <span class="name">Lord</span> sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the <span class="name">Lord</span> and of Samuel.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the <span class="name">Lord</span> your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the <span class="name">Lord</span>, but serve the <span class="name">Lord</span> with all your heart. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>For the sake of his great name the <span class="name">Lord</span> will not reject his people, because the <span class="name">Lord</span> was pleased to make you his own. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the <span class="name">Lord</span> by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>But be sure to fear the <span class="name">Lord</span> and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/12-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">Also called <i>Gideon</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew <i>Bedan</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac <i>Samson</i></span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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