^*And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he ^amade his ^bsons judges over Israel. ²Now the name of his firstborn was ^||Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in ^cBeer-sheba. ³And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside ^dafter lucre, and ^etook bribes, and perverted judgment. ⁴^*Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto ^fRamah, ⁵And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now ^gmake us a king to judge us like all the nations.

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Footnotes

aSee Deut. 16:18.
bComp. Judg. 10:4. & 12:14 with Judg. 5:10.
||[Vashni, 1 Chr. 6:28]. Comp. 1 Chr. 6:33.
cSee Josh. 15:28.
d Ex. 18:21 (Heb.).
eSee Ex. 23:8 (Heb.). So Ps. 15:5 (Heb.).
fSee ch. 1:19.
gver. 19, 20. Deut. 17:14. Hos. 13:10. Acts 13:21.

Cross references

*About B.C. 1112.
*B.C. 1095.

Public Domain

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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 Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk 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 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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 profit, took bribes, and perverted justice.

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”

NLTNew Living Translation

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. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

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. They said to him, “Look, you are old and your sons do not follow in your ways. So then appoint a king for us to judge us, like all the nations.