1 Samuel 12:10-18

Expanded Bible

¹⁰ Then your ancestors cried to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned. We have ·left [turned away from; forsaken] the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths [^Cgods and goddesses of the Canaanites]. But now ·save [rescue; deliver] us from [^Lthe hand of] our enemies, and we will ·serve [worship] you.’ ¹¹ So the Lord sent ·Gideon [^LJerubbaal; ^Canother name for Gideon; Judg. 6:32], ·Barak [^LBedan; Judg. 4:6], Jephthah [Judg. 11–12], and Samuel. He ·saved [rescued; delivered] you from [^Lthe hands of] your enemies around you, and you lived in ·safety [security]. ¹² But when you saw Nahash king of the ·Ammonites [^Lsons of Ammon] ·coming [marching] against you, you said, ‘No! We want a king to ·rule [reign] over us!’—even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ ·Now [All right; So] here is the king you chose, the one you asked for. The Lord has ·put [set; appointed] him over you. ¹⁴ ·You must [If you…] ·honor [fear] the Lord and ·serve [worship] him. You must ·obey [listen to] his ·word [voice] and not ·turn [rebel] against ·his commands [^Lthe mouth of the Lord]. Both you and the king ·ruling [reigning] over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, it will be well with you. ¹⁵ But if you don’t ·obey [listen to the voice of] the Lord, and if you ·turn [rebel] against ·his commands [^Lthe mouth of the Lord], ·he [the hand of the Lord] will be ·against [heavy on] you. ·He will do to you what he did to […as it was on] your ·ancestors [fathers].

¹⁶ “Now stand ·still [where you are] and see the ·great thing [wonder; ^Lthing] the Lord will do before your eyes. ¹⁷ ·It is [Is it not…?] now the time of the wheat harvest [^Cthe dry season]. I will pray for the Lord to send thunder and rain [^Cthe rain would destroy the wheat harvest]. Then you will know what an ·evil [wicked] thing you did ·against [in the eyes/sight of] the Lord when you ·asked for [demanded] a king.”

¹⁸ Then Samuel ·prayed [called] to the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So the people were ·very afraid [in awe] of the Lord and Samuel.