¹And Samuel said to the whole of Israel, “Look, I have given heed to your voice – everything you have said to me – and I have appointed a king over you. ²So now, look, the king walks before you, but I have grown old and become grey-haired, but here are my sons with you, and I have walked before you from my youth up to this day. ³Here I am – testify against me in the presence of the Lord and in the presence of his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I oppressed? Whom have I maltreated? Or from whose hand have I received a bribe to turn a blind eye with it? – and I will restore it to you.” ⁴And they said, “You have not oppressed us, and you have not maltreated us, and you have not taken anything from anyone's hand.” ⁵And he said to them, “The Lord is a witness to you, and his anointed is a witness on this day that you have not found anything in my hand.” And each said, “He is a witness.” ⁶Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. ⁷And now, stand there and let me join issue with you before the Lord about all the righteous acts of the Lord which he did with you and with your fathers, ⁸when Jacob went to Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹But they forgot the Lord their God, so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander 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. ¹⁰Then they cried out to the Lord, and each said, ‘We have sinned, for we have left the Lord and served the images of Baal and images of Astarte, but save us now from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you from your enemies round about, and you lived in security. ¹²And when you saw that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon had come against you, you said to me, ‘No, for a king will reign over us’, although the Lord your God is your king. ¹³And now here is the king whom you chose, whom you asked for, and you see that the Lord has assigned a king over you. ¹⁴If you fear the Lord and serve him and heed his voice and do not resist the Lord's instructions, then both you and the king who reigns over you will be in the wake of the Lord your God. ¹⁵But if you don't heed the voice of the Lord, and you rebel against the instructions of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and against your fathers. ¹⁶Now too, stand and see this great proceeding which the Lord is about to do before your eyes. ¹⁷Is it not the wheat-harvest today? I will call out to the Lord, and he will produce rolls of thunder and rain, so be aware and see that your wickedness which you have committed is great in the eyes of the Lord in asking for a king for yourselves.” ¹⁸Then Samuel called out to the Lord, and the Lord produced rolls of thunder and rain on that day, and all the people feared the Lord and Samuel greatly. ¹⁹And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of your servants that we don't die, for we have added to all our sins a wicked thing in asking for a king for us.” ²⁰And Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear – you have all done this wrong, but do not depart from following the Lord, and serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹And you shall not depart, for that would be to follow vain things which will not be of benefit and will not save you, for they are vain things. ²²For the Lord will not abandon his people, for the sake of his great name, for the Lord is willing to make you his people. ²³Also as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by stopping praying on your behalf. And I will teach you the right and upright way. ²⁴But fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart, for see how he has done great things with you. ²⁵But if you for your part decidedly act wickedly, both you and your king will perish.”