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1 Samuel 8:1–4

Israel Demands a King

When Samuel became old, rhe made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways sbut turned aside after gain. tThey took bribes and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at pRamah

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1 Samuel 8:1–4 — The New International Version (NIV)

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

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

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — New Living Translation (NLT)

As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel.

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — New Century Version (NCV)

When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges for Israel. His first son was named Joel, and his second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba. But Samuel’s sons did not live as he did. They tried to get money dishonestly, and they accepted money secretly to make wrong judgments.

So all the elders came together and met Samuel at Ramah.

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

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

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. And the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah; they judged in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

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

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel; the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. The sons didn’t follow their father’s example but turned to dishonest ways of making money. They took bribes and denied people justice. 

Then all the leaders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

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

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beer-sheba. Yet his sons did not follow in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

When Samuel grew old he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.

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

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

When Samuel became old, he appointed his sons to serve as judges for Israel. The name of his oldest son was Joel. The name of his second son was Abijah. They served as judges at Beersheba. But his sons didn’t live as he did. They were only interested in making money. They accepted money from people who wanted special favors. They made things that were wrong appear to be right.

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

1 Samuel 8:1–4 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel.

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

His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah;


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