1 Samuel
8
- When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons
as judges for Israel.
- 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 walk in 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 walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as
all the other nations have."
- But when they said, "Give us a king
to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
- And the LORD told him: "Listen to all
that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they
have rejected me as their king.
- As they have done from the day I brought
them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods,
so they are doing to you.
- Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly
and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
- Samuel told all the words of the LORD to
the people who were asking him for a king.
- He said, "This is what the king who
will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with
his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
- Some he will assign to be commanders of
thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap
his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his
chariots.
- He will take your daughters to be perfumers
and cooks and bakers.
- He will take the best of your fields and
vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
- He will take a tenth of your grain and of
your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
- Your menservants and maidservants and the
best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
- He will take a tenth of your flocks, and
you yourselves will become his slaves.
- When that day comes, you will cry out for
relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in
that day."
- But the people refused to listen to Samuel.
"No!" they said. "We want a king over us.
- Then we will be like all the other nations,
with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
- When Samuel heard all that the people said,
he repeated it before the LORD.
- The LORD answered, "Listen to them
and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone
go back to his town."
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