I Samuel 8

¹And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

²Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.

³And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah;

⁵and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

⁶But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah.

⁷And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.

⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

⁹Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

¹⁰And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto the people that asked of him a king.

¹¹And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots;

¹²and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.

¹³And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

¹⁴And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

¹⁵And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

¹⁶And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

¹⁷He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants.

¹⁸And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.

¹⁹But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay: but we will have a king over us,

²⁰that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

²¹And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Jehovah.

²²And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

I Samuel 8

¹When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

²The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.

³But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.

⁴So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.

⁵“Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.”

⁶But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.

⁷And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.

⁸Just as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

⁹Now listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.

¹¹He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them to his own chariots and horses, to run in front of his chariots.

¹²He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, to make his weapons of war, and to equip his chariots.

¹³And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

¹⁴He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his servants.

¹⁵He will take a tenth of your grain and grape harvest and give it to his officials and servants.

¹⁶And he will take your menservants and maidservants and your best cattle and donkeys and put them to his own use.

¹⁷He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.

¹⁸When that day comes, you will beg for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.”

¹⁹Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us.

²⁰Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to judge us, to go out before us, and to fight our battles.”

²¹Samuel listened to all the words of the people and repeated them in the hearing of the LORD.

²²“Listen to their voice,” the LORD said to Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Everyone must go back to his city.”