1 Samuel 12:20

Contemporary English Version

Samuel answered: Even though what you did was wrong, you don't need to be afraid. But you must always follow the Lord and worship him with all your heart.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Samuel replied, “Don’t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don’t turn away from following the Lord. Instead, worship the Lord with all your heart.

Hebrew Names Version
Shemu'el said to the people, "Don't be afraid; you have indeed done all this evil; yet don't turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart:

King James Version
And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord , but serve the Lord with all your heart;

Lexham English Bible
And Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear! You have done all this evil; only do not turn aside from following Yahweh. But you must serve Yahweh with all your heart.

English Standard Version
And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord , but serve the Lord with all your heart.

New Century Version
Samuel answered, "Don't be afraid. It's true that you did wrong, but don't turn away from the Lord . Serve the Lord with all your heart.

New English Translation
Then Samuel said to the people, "Don't be afraid. You have indeed sinned. However, don't turn aside from the Lord . Serve the Lord with all your heart.

Amplified Bible
Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid. You have [indeed] done all this evil; yet do not turn away from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

New American Standard Bible
Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Samuel said vnto the people, Feare not. (ye haue in deede done all this wickednesse, yet dpeart not from following the Lorde, but serue the Lord with all your heart,

Legacy Standard Bible
And Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart.

Complete Jewish Bible
Sh'mu'el answered the people, "Don't be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet now, just don't turn away from following Adonai ; but serve Adonai with all your heart.

Darby Translation
And Samuel said to the people, Fear not: *ye* have done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah, and serve Jehovah with all your heart;

Easy-to-Read Version
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.

George Lamsa Translation
And Samuel said to the people, Fear not; you have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve him with all your heart;

Good News Translation
"Don't be afraid," Samuel answered. "Even though you have done such an evil thing, do not turn away from the Lord , but serve him with all your heart.

Literal Translation
And Samuel said to the people, Do not fear. You have done all this evil, only do not turn aside from following Jehovah, and serve Jehovah with all your heart.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Samuel sayde vnto the people: Feare not, ye haue done all this euell in dede. Neuertheles departe not backe from the LORDE, but serue the LORDE with all youre hert,

American Standard Version
And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah, but serve Jehovah with all your heart:

Bible in Basic English
Then Samuel said to the people, Have no fear: truly you have done evil, but do not be turned away from the Lord; be his servants with all your heart;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Samuel sayde vnto the people, feare not (Ye haue in deede done al this wickednesse, yet depart not from folowing of the Lorde, but serue the Lorde with all your heartes:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Samuel said unto the people: 'Fear not; ye have indeed done all this evil; yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

King James Version (1611)
And Samuel saide vnto the people, Feare not: (ye haue done al this wickednesse, yet turne not aside from following the Lord, but serue the Lord with all your heart:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Samuel said to the people, Fear not: ye have indeed wrought all this iniquity; only turn not from following the Lord, and serve the Lord with all your heart.

English Revised Version
And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have indeed done all this evil: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

Berean Standard Bible
"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Samuel seide to the puple, `Nyle ye drede; ye han do al this yuel; netheles `nyle ye go awey fro the bak of the Lord, but serue ye the Lord in al youre herte;

Young's Literal Translation
And Samuel saith unto the people, `Fear not; ye have done all this evil; only, turn not aside from after Jehovah -- and ye have served Jehovah with all your heart,

Update Bible Version
And Samuel said to the people, Don't be afraid; you have indeed done all this evil; yet don't turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart:

Webster's Bible Translation
And Samuel said to the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

World English Bible
Samuel said to the people, "Don't be afraid; you have indeed done all this evil; yet don't turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your heart:

New King James Version
Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

New Living Translation
"Don't be afraid," Samuel reassured them. "You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don't turn your back on him.

New Life Bible
Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid. You have done all these sins. But do not turn aside from following the Lord. Worship the Lord with all your heart.

New Revised Standard
And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord , but serve the Lord with all your heart;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Samuel unto the people - Do not fear, ye, have done all this wrong, - nevertheless, do not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh, with all your heart;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Samuel said to the people: Fear not, you have done all this evil: but yet depart not from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.

Revised Standard Version
And Samuel said to the people, "Fear not; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;

THE MESSAGE
Samuel said to them, "Don't be fearful. It's true that you have done something very wrong. All the same, don't turn your back on God . Worship and serve him heart and soul! Don't chase after ghost-gods. There's nothing to them. They can't help you. They're nothing but ghost-gods! God , simply because of who he is, is not going to walk off and leave his people. God took delight in making you into his very own people.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ Just stand here and watch the Lord show his mighty power. ¹⁷ Isn't this the dry season? I'm going to ask the Lord to send a thunderstorm. When you see it, you will realize how wrong you were to ask for a king. ¹⁸ Samuel prayed, and that same day the Lord sent a thunderstorm. Everyone was afraid of the Lord and of Samuel. ¹⁹ They told Samuel, "Please, pray to the Lord your God for us! We don't want to die. We have sinned many times in the past, and we were very wrong to ask for a king." ²⁰ Samuel answered: Even though what you did was wrong, you don't need to be afraid. But you must always follow the Lord and worship him with all your heart. ²¹ Don't worship idols! They don't have any power, and they can't help you or save you when you're in trouble. ²² But the Lord has chosen you to be his own people. He will always take care of you so that everyone will know how great he is. ²³ I would be disobeying the Lord if I stopped praying for you! I will always teach you how to live right. ²⁴ You also must obey the Lord —you must worship him with all your heart and remember the great things he has done for you. ²⁵ But if you and your king do evil, the Lord will wipe you out.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Fear not: Exodus 20:19, Exodus 20:20, 1 Peter 3:16

turn not: Deuteronomy 11:16, Deuteronomy 31:29, Joshua 23:6, Psalms 40:4, Psalms 101:3, Psalms 125:5, Jeremiah 3:1

Reciprocal: Exodus 23:25 - And ye Exodus 32:30 - Ye have Numbers 21:7 - And Moses Joshua 22:5 - serve Joshua 22:18 - following 2 Samuel 9:7 - Fear not 1 Kings 22:43 - he turned Song of Solomon 1:7 - for Luke 19:21 - I feared John 21:19 - Follow

Cross-References

Genesis 12:6
Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time,

Genesis 12:14
As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was.

Genesis 12:15
The king's officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house.

Exodus 18:27
After Moses and his father-in-law Jethro had said good-by to each other, Jethro returned home.

Proverbs 21:1
The Lord controls rulers, just as he determines the course of rivers.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Samuel said unto the people, fear not,.... Being destroyed by the tempest:

ye have done all this wickedness; in asking a king; that is, though they were guilty of so heinous a sin, yet there were grace and mercy with God, and they should not despair of it, so be it that they did not depart from him, but cordially served him; the Targum is,

"ye have been the cause of all this evil;''

the storm of thunder and rain; and though they had, he would not have them despond or indulge slavish fear;

yet turn not aside from following the Lord; the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; provided they did not depart from the Lord, and forsake his worship, word, and ordinances, they need not fear utter ruin and destruction, though they had been guilty of this sin:

but serve the Lord with all your heart; if their service of God was kept up, and was hearty and sincere, they might still expect things would go well with them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 12:20. Ye have done all this wickedness — That is, although ye have done all this wickedness: what was past God would pass by, provided they would be obedient in future.