Now present yourselves, so that I may confront you before the LORD with all the righteous acts He has done for you and your fathers.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now 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.
- KJV Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.
- NKJV Now therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord which He did to you and your fathers:
- NASB Now then, take your stand, so that I may enter into judgment with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord that He did for you and your fathers.
- NLT Now stand here quietly before the Lord as I remind you of all the great things the Lord has done for you and your ancestors.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Samuel calls the people to stand still while he pleads their case, recounting the Lord's righteous deeds. He puts Israel on trial before God's faithfulness.
Overview
Using covenant-lawsuit language, Samuel presents the Lord's saving acts as evidence of His faithfulness and Israel's ingratitude. The 'righteous acts of Yahweh' are His proven deliverances throughout their history. By rehearsing them, Samuel aims to convict the people and call them back to wholehearted trust in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 1:18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Acts 17:3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.
- Mic 6:1–5Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
- Ezek 18:25–30Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
- Isa 5:3–4“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.
- Judg 5:11the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates:
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 12:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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