But if you still do evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you keep doing evil, you will be consumed, both you and your king.”
- KJV But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
- BSB But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
- NKJV But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
- NLT But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.”
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 persist in evil, both they and their king will be swept away. Samuel closes with a sober warning of judgment.
Overview
The final word makes clear that a king offers no immunity from covenant judgment. Persistent wickedness will destroy people and king together. This warning, soon illustrated in Saul's downfall, underscores that only faithful trust in the Lord secures Israel's future.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Josh 24:20If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.”
- Hos 10:3Surely now they will say, “We have no king; for we don’t fear Yahweh; and the king, what can he do for us?”
- 1 Sam 31:1–5Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.
- Deut 28:36Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone.
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
- Deut 32:15–44But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 12:25 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.