1 Samuel 8
8
Israel Demands a King
1When Samuel became old, #Deut. 16:18he made his sons judges over Israel. 2The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3Yet his sons did not walk in his ways #[Ex. 18:21] but turned aside after gain. #[Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19; Ps. 15:5]They took bribes and perverted justice.
4Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at #[See ch. 7:17 above]Ramah 5and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. #ver. 19, 20; [Deut. 17:14; Hos. 13:10; Acts 13:21]Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, #[Ex. 16:8] for they have not rejected you, #ch. 10:19but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them #See ver. 11-18and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
Samuel’s Warning Against Kings
10So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11He said, #ch. 10:25; See Deut. 17:16-20 “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: #ch. 14:52he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some #See Gen. 45:6to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14#1 Kgs. 21:7; [Ezek. 46:18]He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men#8:16 Septuagint cattle and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, #Prov. 1:28; Isa. 1:15; Mic. 3:4but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
The Lord Grants Israel’s Request
19But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20#ver. 5that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22And the Lord said to Samuel, #ver. 7; [Hos. 13:11]“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 8
8
Israel’s Demand for a King
1When Samuel grew old he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 3But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.
4So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5They 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#Or “to rule” us, like all the nations. 6But the matter was displeasing to Samuel#Literally “was evil in the eyes of Samuel” when they said, “Give us a king to judge#Or “to rule” us,” so Samuel prayed to Yahweh.
7Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8Like all the deeds they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt until this day, they have forsaken me and have served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9And so then, listen to their voice. However, you must earnestly warn them; you must explain to them the custom of the king who will rule over them.”
10So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to the people who were requesting a king from him. 11He said, “This will be the custom of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots. 12He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and those to do his plowing#Literally “to plow his plowing” and to reap his harvest, and those to make weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. 13He will take your daughters as his perfume makers and as cooks and as bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive trees and will give them to his servants. 15He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his high officials and to his servants. 16He will take your male slaves and your female slaves and the best of your young men#LXX reads “cattle” and your donkeys and will use them for his projects.#Literally “will put them to his work” 17He will take a tenth of your flocks,#The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals) and you yourselves will become his servants. 18So you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but Yahweh will not answer you on that day!” 19However, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel and they said, “No, but there must be a king over us, 20so that we also#Literally “even we” may be like all the nations, and our king may rule us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
21Now when Samuel heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of Yahweh. 22Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and appoint a king for them.” So Samuel spoke to the men of Israel, “Each of you go to his own town.”
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