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 demands a king
1Now when Samuel got old, he appointed his sons to serve as Israel’s judges. 2The name of his oldest son was Joel; the name of the second was Abijah. They served as judges in Beer-sheba. 3But Samuel’s sons didn’t follow in his footsteps. They tried to turn a profit, they accepted bribes, and they perverted justice.
4So all the Israelite elders got together and went to Samuel at Ramah. 5They said to him, “Listen. You are old now, and your sons don’t follow in your footsteps. So appoint us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” 6It seemed very bad to Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” so he prayed to the LORD.
7The LORD answered Samuel, “Comply with the people’s request—everything they ask of you—because they haven’t rejected you. No, they’ve rejected me as king over them. 8They are doing to you only what they’ve been doing to me#8.8 LXX; MT lacks to me. from the day I brought them out of Egypt to this very minute, abandoning me and worshipping other gods. 9So comply with their request, but give them a clear warning, telling them how the king will rule over them.”#8.9 Or telling them the lawful practice of the king; also in 8:11; cf 10:25.
10Then Samuel explained everything the LORD had said to the people who were asking for a king. 11“This is how the king will rule over you,” Samuel said:
“He will take your sons, and will use them for his chariots and his cavalry and as runners for his chariot. 12He will use them as his commanders of troops of one thousand and troops of fifty, or to do his plowing and his harvesting, or to make his weapons or parts for his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, or bakers. 14He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his servants. 15He will give one-tenth of your grain and your vineyards to his officials and servants. 16He will take your male and female servants, along with the best of your cattle#8.16 LXX; MT young men and donkeys, and make them do his work. 17He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and then you yourselves will become his slaves! 18When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose for yourselves, but on that day the LORD won’t answer you.”
19But the people refused to listen to Samuel and said, “No! There must be a king over us 20so we can be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles.”
21Samuel listened to everything the people said and repeated it directly to the LORD. 22Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Comply with their request. Give them a king.”
Samuel then told the Israelite people, “Go back, each of you, to your own hometown.”
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