Samuel Talks to the Children of Israel

"If you fear the Lord and serve and obey Him
and do not rebel against His commands,
and if both you and the king who reigns over you
follow the Lord your God -- good!
But if you do not obey the Lord,
and if you rebel against His commands,
His hand will be against you,
as it was against your fathers.

"Now then, stand still and see this great thing
the Lord is about to do before your eyes!
Is it not wheat harvest now?
I will call upon the Lord to send thunder and rain.
And you will realize what an evil thing you did
in the eyes of the Lord
when you asked for a king."

Then Samuel called upon the Lord,
and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain.
So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and Samuel.

The people all said to Samuel,
"Pray to the Lord your God for your servants
so that we will not die,
for we have added to all our other sins
the evil of asking for a king."

"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied.
"You have done all this evil;
yet do not turn away from the Lord,
but serve the Lord with all your heart.
Do not turn away after useless idols.
They can do you no good,
nor can they rescue you,
because they are useless.

(I Samuel 12:14-21)