12:16 “So now, take your positions and watch this great thing that the Lord is about to do in your sight. 12:17 Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the Lord so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by asking for a king for yourselves.”
12:18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord made it thunder and rain that day. All the people were very afraid of both the Lord and Samuel. 12:19 All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of us – your servants – so we won’t die, for we have added to all our sins by asking for a king.” 1
12:20 Then Samuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed sinned. 2 However, don’t turn aside from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart.
1 tn Heb “for we have added to all our sins an evil [thing] by asking for ourselves a king.”
2 tn Heb “you have done all this evil.”