1 Samuel 8

Israel Demands a King

8Now it came to pass when Samuel was ^aold that he ^bmade his ^csons judges over Israel. ²The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³But his sons ^ddid not walk in his ways; they turned aside ^eafter dishonest gain, ^ftook bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^gmake us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶But the thing ^hdispleased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel ⁱprayed to the Lord. ⁷And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for ^jthey have not rejected you, but ^kthey have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and ^lshow them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. ¹¹And he said, ^m“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your ⁿsons and appoint them for his own ^ochariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹²He will ^pappoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴And ^qhe will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ¹young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. ¹⁸And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord ^rwill not hear you in that day.”

¹⁹Nevertheless the people ^srefused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, ²⁰that we also may be ^tlike all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. ²²So the Lord said to Samuel, ^u“Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”