Israel Demands a King

8 Now it came about, when Samuel was old, that ^(A)he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^(B)Beersheba. ³ His sons, however, did not walk in his ways but turned aside after dishonest gain, and they ^(C)took bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(D)Ramah; ⁵ and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(E)appoint us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the matter was ^[a](F)displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And ^(G)Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people regarding all that they say to you, because ^(H)they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them. ⁸ Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have abandoned Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you as well. ⁹ Now then, listen to their voice; ^(I)however, you shall warn them strongly and tell them of ^(J)the ^[b]practice of the king who will reign over them.”

Warning concerning a King

¹⁰ So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to ^(K)the people who had asked him for a king. ¹¹ And he said, “^(L)This will be the ^[c]practice of the king who will reign over you: ^(M)he will take your sons and put them in his chariots for himself and among his horsemen, and ^(N)they will run before his chariots. ^12 (O)He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to ^[d]do his plowing and to gather in his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will also take your daughters and use them as perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ^14 (P)He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ And he will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his high officials and his servants. ¹⁶ He will also take your male servants and your female servants, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and ^[e]use them for his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. ¹⁸ Then ^(Q)you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^(R)the Lord will not answer you on that day.”

¹⁹ Yet the people ^(S)refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, ^20 (T)so that we also may be like all the nations, and our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, ^(U)he ^[f]repeated them in the Lord’s hearing. ²² And the Lord said to Samuel, “^(V)Listen to their voice and appoint a king for them.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go, every man to his city.”

Bildad Says Mankind Is Inferior

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

Message to Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in ^(A)Ephesus write:

The One who holds ^(B)the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks ^[a](C)among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

² ‘^(D)I know your deeds and your labor and ^[b]perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have ^(E)put those who call themselves ^(F)apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have ^[c]perseverance and have endured ^(G)on account of My name, and have not become weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have ^(H)left your first love. ⁵ Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and ^(I)repent, and ^(J)do the ^[d]deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your ^(K)lampstand from its place—unless you repent. ⁶ But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the ^(L)Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ^7 (M)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(N)To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from ^(O)the tree of life, which is in the ^(P)Paradise of God.’

Message to Smyrna

⁸ “And to the angel of the church in ^(Q)Smyrna write:

^(R)The first and the last, who ^[e](S)was dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹ ‘I know your ^(T)tribulation and your ^(U)poverty (but you are ^(V)rich), and the ^[f]slander by those who ^(W)say they are Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of ^(X)Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you will be ^(Y)tested, and you will have tribulation ^(Z)for ten days. ^[g]Be ^(AA)faithful until death, and I will give you ^(AB)the crown of life. ^11 (AC)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AD)The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the ^(AE)second death.’

Message to Pergamum

¹² “And to the angel of the church in ^(AF)Pergamum write:

The One who has ^(AG)the sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³ ‘I know where you dwell, where ^(AH)Satan’s throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny ^(AI)My faith even in the days of Antipas, My ^(AJ)witness, My ^(AK)faithful one, who was killed among you, ^(AL)where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But ^(AM)I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the ^(AN)teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a ^[h]stumbling block before the sons of Israel, ^(AO)to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the ^(AP)Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore ^(AQ)repent; or else ^(AR)I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with ^(AS)the sword of My mouth. ^17 (AT)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AU)To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden ^(AV)manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a ^(AW)new name written on the stone ^(AX)which no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Message to Thyatira

¹⁸ “And to the angel of the church in ^(AY)Thyatira write:

^(AZ)The Son of God, ^(BA)who has ^[i]eyes like a flame of fire, and ^[j]feet like burnished bronze, says this:

¹⁹ ‘^(BB)I know your deeds, and your love and faith, and service and ^[k]perseverance, and that your ^[l]deeds of late are greater than ^[m]at first. ²⁰ But ^(BC)I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman ^(BD)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they ^(BE)commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ^21 (BF)I gave her time to repent, and she ^(BG)does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. ²² Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who ^(BH)commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of ^[n]her deeds. ²³ And I will kill her children with ^[o]plague, and all the churches will know that I am He who ^(BI)searches the ^[p]minds and hearts; and ^(BJ)I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. ²⁴ But I say to you, the rest who are in ^(BK)Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the ^(BL)deep things of Satan, as they call them—I ^(BM)place no other burden on you. ²⁵ Nevertheless ^(BN)what you have, hold firmly ^(BO)until I come. ^26 (BP)The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds ^(BQ)until the end, ^(BR)I will give him authority over the ^[q]nations; ²⁷ and he shall ^[r](BS)rule them with a rod of iron, ^(BT)as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father; ²⁸ and I will give him ^(BU)the morning star. ^29 (BV)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’