1Samuel said to all Israel, "Look, I have listened to your voice in everything you said to me, and I have made a king to rule over you."
2"Now look, the king walks before you. I am old and grey-headed, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my childhood until this day."
3"Look, here I am. Speak against me before the LORD, and before the man he has anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I crushed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Tell me, and I will give it back to you."
4They said, "You have not cheated us or crushed us. You have not taken anything from any man's hand."
5He said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and the man he has anointed is witness this day, that you have found nothing in my hand." And they answered, "He is witness."
6Samuel said to the people, "It was the LORD who raised up Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt."
7"So now stand still, and let me reason with you before the LORD about all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did for you and for your fathers."
8"When Jacob had come into Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD. Then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron. They brought your fathers out of Egypt, and settled them in this place."
9"But they forgot the LORD their God. So he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and these fought against them."
10"They cried out to the LORD and said, 'We have sinned, because we have left the LORD and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth. But now rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.'"
11"And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel. He rescued you from the hand of your enemies all around you, and you lived in safety."
12"But when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, 'No, a king must rule over us' - and all the while the LORD your God was your king."
13"So now, look at the king you have chosen, the one you asked for. Look, the LORD has set a king over you."
14"If you will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and the king who rules over you will go on following the LORD your God."
15"But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, and you rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers."
16"So now stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do in front of your eyes."
17"Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, and he will send thunder and rain. Then you will understand and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king."
18So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people were greatly afraid of the LORD and of Samuel.
19All the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we do not die. For we have added this evil to all our sins, by asking for a king."
20Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid. You have done all this wickedness. Yet do not turn away from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart."
21"Do not turn aside. If you do, you will go after empty things, which cannot help you or rescue you, for they are empty."
22"The LORD will not leave his people, for the sake of his great name. For it has pleased the LORD to make you his people."
23"As for me, may I never sin against the LORD by stopping praying for you. I will teach you the good and right way."
24"Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart. Think how great the things are that he has done for you."
25"But if you still do wickedly, you will be swept away, both you and your king."