1 Samuel 8
Lexham English Bible
Israel’s Demand for a King
8 When Samuel grew old he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after gain, they took bribes, and they perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They 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[a] us, like all the nations. 6 But the matter was displeasing to Samuel[b] when they said, “Give us a king to judge[c] us,” so Samuel prayed to Yahweh.
7 Then 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. 8 Like 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. 9 And 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.”
10 So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to the people who were requesting a king from him. 11 He 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. 12 He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and those to do his plowing[d] and to reap his harvest, and those to make weapons of war and the equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters as his perfume makers and as cooks and as bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive trees and will give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his high officials and to his servants. 16 He will take your male slaves and your female slaves and the best of your young men[e] and your donkeys and will use them for his projects.[f] 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks,[g] and you yourselves will become his servants. 18 So 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!” 19 However, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel and they said, “No, but there must be a king over us, 20 so that we also[h] may be like all the nations, and our king may rule us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 Now when Samuel heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of Yahweh. 22 Then 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.”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 8:5 Or “to rule”
- 1 Samuel 8:6 Literally “was evil in the eyes of Samuel”
- 1 Samuel 8:6 Or “to rule”
- 1 Samuel 8:12 Literally “to plow his plowing”
- 1 Samuel 8:16 LXX reads “cattle”
- 1 Samuel 8:16 Literally “will put them to his work”
- 1 Samuel 8:17 The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
- 1 Samuel 8:20 Literally “even we”
1 Samuel 8
International Standard Version
Israel Demands a King
8 When Samuel became old, he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 His sons did not follow Samuel’s example.[a] Instead, they pursued[b] dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.[c]
4 All the elders of Israel gathered together, and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They told him, “Look, you’re old, and your sons don’t follow your example.[d] So appoint a king to govern us like all the other[e] nations.” 6 Samuel was displeased[f] when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 The Lord told Samuel, “Listen to the people[g] in all that they say to you. In fact, it’s not you they have rejected, but rather they have rejected me from being their king. 8 Like all the things they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this very day, they have forsaken me and followed other gods. They’re also doing the same thing to you. 9 Now, listen to them, but you are to clearly warn them and inform them about how the king who rules over them will operate.”[h]
10 Samuel reported everything the Lord told him to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is how the king who rules over you will operate: He will conscript your sons and assign them[i] to his chariots. He will conscript them[j] as his horsemen, and they’ll run in front of his chariots. 12 He will appoint his officers over thousands and officers over fifties—some will plow his fields,[k] reap his harvest, and craft his war implements and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters for perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 He will take the best products of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves and give them to his servants.[l] 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his officers and servants.[m] 16 He will take your male and female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys to do his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your flock, and you will become his servants. 18 When all of this comes about, you will cry out because of your king whom you chose for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you at that time.”
19 The people refused to listen to Samuel.[n] Instead, they insisted, “No! Let a king rule over us instead! 20 We, too, will be like all the nations! Our king will govern us and go out before us to fight our battles.”
21 So Samuel listened to all the words of the people, and he repeated them directly to[o] the Lord. 22 The Lord told Samuel, “Listen to them, and appoint a king for them.”
Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you go to his own town.”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 8:3 Lit. not walk in his ways
- 1 Samuel 8:3 Lit. turned after
- 1 Samuel 8:3 Lit. caused justice to be turned aside
- 1 Samuel 8:5 Lit. not walk in his ways
- 1 Samuel 8:5 The Heb. lacks other
- 1 Samuel 8:6 Lit. the thing was bad in the eyes of
- 1 Samuel 8:7 Lit. the voice of the people
- 1 Samuel 8:9 Lit. the practice of the king
- 1 Samuel 8:11 Lit. them for himself
- 1 Samuel 8:11 The Heb. lacks conscripting them
- 1 Samuel 8:12 Lit. and to plow his plowing
- 1 Samuel 8:14 Or officials
- 1 Samuel 8:15 Or officials
- 1 Samuel 8:19 Lit. to the voice of Samuel
- 1 Samuel 8:21 Lit. them in the ears of
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
