1 Samuel 12:2

¹ Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set over you a king.

Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.

³ Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”

⁴ “You have not wronged us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Now here is the king walking before you, and I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.
KJV: And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
WEB: Now, behold, the king walks before you. I am old and gray-headed. Behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth to this day.
ASV: And now, behold, the king walketh before you; and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth unto this day.
DARBY: And now behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and grey-headed; and behold, my sons are with you; and I have walked before you from my youth up to this day.
BLB: And here is the king, walking before you⁺, and I am old and have become gray. And my sons, behold, [are] with you⁺, and I have walked before you⁺ from my childhood to this day.

ÅB: Sa har dere nå kongen til fører for dere; men jeg er gammel og grå, så dere nå har mine sønner iblant dere. Jeg har vært fører for dere fra min ungdom like til denne dag.
OTB: Nå er her kongen som går foran dere, og jeg er gammel og gråhåret; og se, mine sønner er hos dere. Jeg har vandret foran dere fra min ungdom til denne dag.
B1930: Sa har I nu kongen til fører for eder; men jeg er gammel og grå, så I nu har mine sønner iblandt eder. Jeg har vært fører for eder fra min ungdom like til denne dag.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

1 Samuel 8:5
“Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”
Read in context
1 Samuel 8:20
Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to judge us, to go out before us, and to fight our battles.”
Read in context
1 Samuel 8:1
When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.
Read in context
Numbers 27:17
who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Read in context
1 Samuel 8:3
But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
Read in context
1 Samuel 3:19–20
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.
Read in context
1 Samuel 2:22
Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Read in context
Isaiah 46:3–4
“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.
Read in context