Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. 2Now, behold, the king walks 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 to this day. 3Here I am: witness against me before YAHWEH, and before his anointed1: whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
4They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from any man’s hand.”
5He said to them, “YAHWEH is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”
They said, “He is witness.”
6Samuel said to the people, “It is YAHWEH who appointed Musa and Harun, and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before YAHWEH concerning all the righteous acts of YAHWEH, which he did to you and to your fathers.
8“When Yaqub came into Egypt, and your fathers cried to YAHWEH, then YAHWEH sent Musa and Harun, who brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place. 9But they forgot YAHWEH their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain 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. 10They cried to YAHWEH, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken YAHWEH, and have worshiped the Baals and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will worship you.’ 11YAHWEH sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.
12“When you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us;’ when YAHWEH your God was your king. 13Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for: and, behold, YAHWEH has set a king over you. 14If you fear YAHWEH, and worship him, and listen to his voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of YAHWEH, and both you and your king are followers of YAHWEH your God, good: 15but if you do not listen to the voice of YAHWEH, but rebel against the commandment of YAHWEH, then the hand of YAHWEH will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16“Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which YAHWEH will do before your eyes. 17Isn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to YAHWEH, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of YAHWEH, in asking for a king.”
18So Samuel called to YAHWEH; and YAHWEH sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people became terrified of YAHWEH and Samuel.
19They all said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to YAHWEH your God, that we not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil of asking for a king.”
20Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have indeed done all this evil; yet do not turn aside from following YAHWEH, but worship YAHWEH with all your heart: 21and do not turn aside; for then you would go after worthless things which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are worthless. 22For YAHWEH will not forsake his people2 for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased YAHWEH to make you a people to himself. 23Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against YAHWEH in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24Only fear YAHWEH, and worship him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he has done for you. 25But if you shall still do wickedly, you shall be consumed, both you and your king.”
- 12:3 anointed, in Hebrew mashiah, which gives rise to the Arabic masih, and the English messiah. In ancient Israel, kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their divine appointment to office. All of these anointed individuals point ahead to the ultimate Anointed One or Messiah (AL-MASIH) whose coming God has promised in his holy word. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
- 12:22 For YAHWEH will not forsake his people – despite the repeated sin and rebellion of Bani-Israel, God has promised to remain faithful to his covenant with them and not utterly forsake them. Corroborated by the Zabur 94:14 which says: “For YAHWEH will not forsake his people, neither will he reject his inheritance.” The Injil agrees in Romans 11:2 which says: “God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew.” ↩︎