1 Samuel 12:20-22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 “Do not fear,” Samuel answered them. “You have indeed committed all this evil! Yet do not turn from the Lord, but serve him with your whole heart. 21 Do not turn aside to gods who are nothing,[a] who cannot act and deliver. They are nothing.(A) 22 For the sake of his own great name[b] the Lord will not abandon his people, since the Lord has decided to make you his people.(B)
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- 12:21 Gods who are nothing: Hebrew tohu, lit., “emptiness,” cf. Gn 1:2 (…webohu); here, idols without power or substance, as in Is 41:29.
- 12:22 His own great name: were the Lord to abandon his people, even if they abandon him, he would diminish his stature or reputation in the divine council or among the nations (e.g., Ez 20:9). Throughout the Old Testament the Lord is encouraged to deliver Israel, despite its evil, “for the sake of his name.”
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