²⁵ Then Samuel told the people ^(A)the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.

¹¹ He said, ^(A)“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^(B)he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. ¹² And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^(C)to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ^14 (D)He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men^[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ^(E)but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

Laws Concerning Israel's Kings

¹⁴ “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ^(A)‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you may indeed set a king over you ^(B)whom the Lord your God will choose. One ^(C)from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ Only he must not acquire many ^(D)horses for himself or cause the people ^(E)to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ^(F)‘You shall never return that way again.’ ¹⁷ And he ^(G)shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, ^(H)nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

¹⁸ “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, ^(I)he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, ^(J)approved by^[a] the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ And ^(K)it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, ^(L)that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, ²⁰ that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he ^(M)may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, ^(N)so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

Submission to Authority

^13 (A)Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,^[a] whether it be to the emperor^[b] as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him ^(B)to punish those who do evil and ^(C)to praise those who do good.

Be Ready for Every Good Work

3 Remind them ^(A)to be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^(B)to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

^2 (A)for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and ^(B)dignified in every way.

Submission to the Authorities

13 Let every person ^(A)be subject to the governing authorities. For ^(B)there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you ^(C)will receive his approval, ⁴ for ^(D)he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, ^(E)an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also ^(F)for the sake of conscience. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ^7 (G)Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

¹⁶ “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he makes a gift ^(A)out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to ^(B)the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. ^18 (C)The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, ^(D)thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be ^(E)scattered from his property.”

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(A)Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease ^(B)your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

^10 (C)“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.^[a]