1 Samuel 12:9-19

9 But the people forgot the Lord their God, and so he let the Philistines and the king of Moab and Sisera, commander of the army of the city of Hazor, fight against your ancestors and conquer them. 1
10 Then they cried to the Lord for help and said, "We have sinned, because we turned away from you, Lord, and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte. Rescue us from our enemies, and we will worship you!' 2
11 And the Lord sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, and finally me. Each of us rescued you from your enemies, and you lived in safety. 3
12 But when you saw that King Nahash of Ammon was about to attack you, you rejected the Lord as your king and said to me, "We want a king to rule us.' 4
13 "Now here is the king you chose; you asked for him, and now the Lord has given him to you.
14 All will go well with you if you honor the Lord your God, serve him, listen to him, and obey his commands, and if you and your king follow him.
15 But if you do not listen to the Lord but disobey his commands, he will be against you and your king.
16 So then, stand where you are, and you will see the great thing which the Lord is going to do.
17 It's the dry season, isn't it? But I will pray, and the Lord will send thunder and rain. When this happens, you will realize that you committed a great sin against the Lord when you asked him for a king."
18 So Samuel prayed, and on that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. Then all the people became afraid of the Lord and of Samuel,
19 and they said to Samuel, "Please, sir, pray to the Lord your God for us, so that we won't die. We now realize that, besides all our other sins, we have sinned by asking for a king."

Images for 1 Samuel 12:9-19

Cross References 4

  • 1. 12.9 aJudges 4.2; bJudges 13.1; cJudges 3.12.
  • 2. 12.10Judges 10.10-15.
  • 3. 12.11 aJudges 7.1; bJudges 4.6; cJudges 11.29; d 1 S 3.20.
  • 4. 12.12 1 Samuel 8.19.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. [Some ancient translations] Barak; [Hebrew] Bedan.
  • [b]. [One ancient translation] your king; [Hebrew] your ancestors.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.