^8:10So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. ^8:11He said, “Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot. ^8:12He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties,¹⁰ as well as those who plow his ground, reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment. ^8:13He will take your daughters to be ointment makers, cooks, and bakers. ^8:14He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants. ^8:15He will demand a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards and give it to his administrators¹¹ and his servants. ^8:16He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best cattle and your donkeys, and assign them for his own use. ^8:17He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will be his servants. ^8:18In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.”¹²

^8:19But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning.¹³ Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! ^8:20We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us¹⁴ and fight our battles.”

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Footnotes

10 The numbers of v. 12 are confused in the Greek and versions. For “fifties” the has “hundreds.” The has “heads of thousands and heads of hundreds and heads of fifties and heads of tens,” perhaps reflecting influence from Deut 1:15.
11 Or “eunuchs” (so ); “officials”; , , , “officers.”
12 The adds “because you have chosen for yourselves a king.”
13 Heb “and the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel.”
14 Heb “and go out before us.”