m.
12:3. Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I
have taken any man's ox, or ass: if I have wronged any man, if I have
oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man's hand: and I will
despise it this day, and will restore it to you.
12:4. And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor
taken ought at any man's hand.
12:5. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and his
anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my
hand. And they said: He is witness.
12:6. And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord who made Moses and
Aaron, and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt.
12:7. Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you
before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which he hath
shewn to you, and to your fathers:
12:8. How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord: and
the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt,
and made them dwell in this place.
12:9. And they forgot the Lord their God, and he delivered them into the
hands of Sisara, captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands of the
Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought
against them.
12:10 But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We have sinned,
because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth:
but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
12:11. And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel,
and delivered you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you
dwelt securely.
Jerobaal and Badan... That is, Gedeon and Samson called here Badan or
Bedan, because he was of Dan.
12:12. But seeing that Naas, king of the children of Ammon, was come
against you, you said to me: Nay, but a king shall reign over us:
whereas the Lord your God was your king.
12:13. Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and
desired: Behold the Lord hath given you a king.
12:14. If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his
voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord: then shall both you, and
the king who reigneth over you, be followers of the Lord your God.
12:15. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will
rebel against his words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and
upon your fathers.
12:16. Now then stand, and see this great thing wh
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