Above all, fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Only fear Yahweh, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you.
- KJV Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
- NKJV Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
- NASB Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
- NLT But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you.
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
He urges them to fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all their heart, remembering His great deeds. Gratitude should fuel wholehearted obedience.
Overview
Samuel sums up Israel's duty as sincere, heartfelt reverence and service. Recalling 'what great things he has done' grounds obedience in grateful response to God's grace. This call to wholehearted devotion remains the abiding pattern of faithful life before the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 10:21He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome wonders that your eyes have seen.
- Prov 1:7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
- Ps 126:2–3Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
- Heb 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
- Isa 5:12At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
- Eccl 12:13When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
- Ps 111:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
- Ps 119:80May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.
- Exod 12:13The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
- Job 28:28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
- Rom 12:1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
- John 1:47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
- Ezra 9:13–14After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),
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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 12:24 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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