1 Samuel 8

Israel’s Demand for a King

8When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. ^q2His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. ^r3However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. ^s

⁴So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. ^t5They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not follow your example. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” ^u

⁶When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king. ^v8They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to Me, ^wsince the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning Me and worshiping other gods. ⁹Listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them ^xand tell them about the rights of the king who will rule over them.”

¹⁰Samuel told all the Lord’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹He said, “These are the rights of the king who will rule over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. ¹²He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, ^yto plow his ground or reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war or the equipment for his chariots. ¹³He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ^z15He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. ¹⁶He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, ^aand your donkeys and use them for his work. ¹⁷He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, ^bbut the Lord won’t answer you on that day.” ^c

¹⁹The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. ²⁰Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, ^dand fight our battles.”

²¹Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the Lord. ^e22“Listen to them,” the Lord told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” ^f

Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”