13. Now, here is the king you chose. The Lord put this king over you.
14. You must fear and respect the Lord. You must serve him and obey his commands. You must not turn against him. You and the king ruling over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, God will save you.
15. But if you don’t listen to the Lord, if you refuse to do what the Lord says, he will be against you. The Lord will destroy you and your king.
16. “Now stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes.
17. Now is the time of the wheat harvest. I will pray to the Lord and ask him to send thunder and rain. Then you will know you did a very bad thing against the Lord when you asked for a king.”
18. So Samuel prayed to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. And the people became very afraid of the Lord and Samuel.
19. All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants. Don’t let us die! We have sinned many times. And now we have added to these sins—we have asked for a king.”
20. Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. It is true that you did all these bad things, but don’t stop following the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart.
21. Idols are only statues—they can’t help you. So don’t worship them. Idols can’t help you or save you. They are nothing!