12:1And Samuel said to all Israel: "Look, I have listened to your voice according to all the things which you have spoken to me, and I have appointed a king over you. 12:2And now the king walks before you: but I have grown old, and grey: and my sons are with you: and so, having lived before you from my youth until this day, look, I am here. 12:3Speak about me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I have taken anyone's ox, or ass: if I have falsely accused anyone, if I have oppressed anyone, if from anyone's hand I have accepted a gift: and I will despise it today, and restore it to you."
12:4And they said: "You have not falsely accused us, nor oppressed us, nor taken anything from the hand of anyone." 12:5And he said to them: "The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness on this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." 12:5And they said: "He is witness." 12:6And Samuel said to the people: "It is the Lord, who made Moses and Aaron, and led our fathers out of the land of Egypt. 12:7Now therefore stand, so that I may contend in judgment against you before the Lord about all the mercies of the Lord which he has done with you and with your fathers: how Jacob entered into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord: and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and led your fathers out of Egypt, and settled them in this place.
12:9They forgot the Lord their God, and he handed them over into the hand of Sisera, master of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab: and they fought against them. 12:10But afterwards they cried out to the Lord, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth: now therefore rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you. 12:11And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and rescued you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you dwelt in confidence.
12:12But seeing that Nahash, king of the sons of Ammon, had come against you, you said to me: By no means, but a king shall rule us: when the Lord your God was reigning among you. 12:13Now therefore here is your king, whom you have chosen and asked for: look, the Lord has given you a king. 12:14If you fear the Lord, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and do not provoke the mouth of the Lord, both you and the king who rules you will be followers of the Lord your God: but if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but provoke his words, the hand of the Lord will be upon you, and upon your fathers.
12:16But even now stand, and see this great thing which the Lord is going to do in your sight. 12:17Is it not the wheat harvest today? 12:17I will call upon the Lord, and he will give voices and rains: and you will know, and see, that you have done a great evil for yourselves in the sight of the Lord, asking for a king over you." 12:18And Samuel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord gave voices and rains on that day. 12:19And all the people feared the Lord and Samuel exceedingly, and the whole people said to Samuel: "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die: for we have added to all our sins an evil, that we asked for ourselves a king."
12:20And Samuel said to the people: "Do not fear: you have done all this evil, nevertheless do not depart from behind the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 12:21And do not turn aside after vain things, which will not profit you, nor rescue you, because they are vain. 12:22And the Lord will not forsake his people for the sake of his great name: because the Lord has sworn to make you a people for himself. 12:23And far be from me this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you, and I will teach you the good and right way. 12:24Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, and with all your heart: for you have seen the great things which he has done among you.
12:25But if you persist in wickedness, both you and your king will perish together."