¹When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. ²The name of his firstborn son was Joel; the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. ³The sons didn’t follow their father’s example but turned to dishonest ways of making money. They took bribes and denied people justice.

⁴Then all the leaders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵They told him, “You’re old, and your sons aren’t following your example. Now appoint a king to judge us so that we will be like all the other nations.”

⁶But Samuel considered it wrong for them to request a king to judge them. So Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷The Lord told Samuel, “Listen to everything the people are saying to you. They haven’t rejected you; they’ve rejected me. ⁸They’re doing just what they’ve done since I took them out of Egypt—leaving me and serving other gods. ⁹Listen to them now, but be sure to warn them and tell them about the rights of a king.”

¹⁰Then Samuel told the people who had asked him for a king everything the Lord had said. ¹¹Samuel said, “These are the rights of a king:

He will draft your sons, make them serve on his chariots and horses, and make them run ahead of his chariots.

¹²He will appoint them to be his officers over 1,000 or over 50 soldiers, to plow his ground and harvest his crops, and to make weapons and equipment for his chariots.

¹³He will take your daughters and have them make perfumes, cook, and bake.

¹⁴He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his officials.

¹⁵He will take a tenth of your grain and wine and give it to his aids and officials.

¹⁶He will take your male and female slaves, your best cattle,^aand your donkeys for his own use.

¹⁷He will take a tenth of your flocks.

In addition, you will be his servants.

¹⁸“When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. The Lord will not answer you when that day comes.”

¹⁹But the people refused to listen to Samuel. They said, “No, we want a king! ²⁰Then we, too, will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us, lead us out ⸤to war⸥, and fight our battles.”

²¹When Samuel heard everything the people had to say, he reported it privately to the Lord. ²²The Lord told him, “Listen to them, and give them a king.”

Then Samuel told the people of Israel, “Go ⸤back⸥ to your own cities.”

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Footnotes

a 8:16 Greek; Masoretic Text “best young men.”