But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers.
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you will not listen to Yahweh’s voice, but rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then Yahweh’s hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
- KJV But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.
- NKJV However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
- NASB But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, even as it was against your fathers.
- NLT But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
But if they rebel against the Lord, His hand will be against them as against their fathers. Disobedience will bring judgment even with a king.
Overview
Samuel sets the covenant curse beside the blessing, warning that rebellion invites God's opposition. The reference to 'your fathers' recalls the cycles of judgment in the judges era. A human king cannot shield a disobedient nation from the consequences of forsaking the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Josh 24:20If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.”
- Isa 1:20But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Lev 26:14–30If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- 1 Sam 12:9But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
- Deut 28:15–68If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Rom 2:8–9But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- 1 Sam 5:9But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the LORD’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 12:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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