I Samuel 8

¹Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

²The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.

³And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging.

⁴Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah,

⁵And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations.

⁶But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord.

⁷And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them.

⁸As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you.

⁹Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler.

¹⁰And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the people who were desiring a king.

¹¹And he said, This is the sort of king who will be your ruler: he will take your sons and make them his servants, his horsemen, and drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his war-carriages;

¹²And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages.

¹³Your daughters he will take to be makers of perfumes and cooks and bread-makers.

¹⁴He will take your fields and your vine-gardens and your olive-gardens, all the best of them, and give them to his servants.

¹⁵He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants.

¹⁶He will take your men-servants and your servant-girls, and the best of your oxen and your asses and put them to his work.

¹⁷He will take a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his servants.

¹⁸Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day.

¹⁹But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us,

²⁰So that we may be like the other nations, and so that our king may be our judge and go out before us to war.

²¹Then Samuel, after hearing all the people had to say, went and gave an account of it to the Lord.

²²And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town.

I Samuel 8

¹It happened, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beersheba.

³His sons did not walk 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 to Ramah;

⁵and they said to him, "Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your 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." Samuel prayed to the Lord.

⁷The Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, 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 to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to you.

⁹Now therefore listen to their voice: however you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the way of the king who shall reign over them."

¹⁰Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked of him a king.

¹¹He said, "This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots;

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

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

¹⁴He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive groves, even their best, and give them to his servants.

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

¹⁶He will take your male servants, and your female servants, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

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

¹⁸You shall cry out in that day because of your king whom you shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not answer you in that day."

¹⁹But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No; 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."

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

²²The Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to their voice, and make them a king." Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go to his city."