1 Samuel 8:1–8

Israel Demands a King

¹And it came about when Samuel was old that ^ahe appointed his sons judges over Israel.

²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^aBeersheba.

³His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and ^atook bribes and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^aRamah;

⁵and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^aappoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶But the thing was ^1adispleasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And ^bSamuel prayed to the Lord.

⁷The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for ^athey have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

⁸“Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.