¹⁷ Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain, and you shall know and see that the wickedness that you have done in the sight of the Lord is great in demanding a king for yourselves.”^(A)

⁷ and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.^(A)

⁹ So Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.^{(A) 10} As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel, but the Lord thundered with a mighty voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were routed before Israel.^(B)

¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.^{(A) 17} Elijah was a human like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.^{(B) 18} Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth yielded its harvest.^(C)

Punishment Is Inevitable

15 Then the Lord said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!^(A)

¹² On the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord, and he said in the sight of Israel,