⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(A)Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^(B)Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, ^(C)for they have not rejected you, ^(D)but they have rejected me from being king over them.

The Lord Grants Israel's Request

¹⁹ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, ^20 (A)that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. ²² And the Lord said to Samuel, ^(B)“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”