10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, (A)“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your (B)sons and appoint them for his own (C)chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will (D)appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And (E)he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest [a]young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord (F)will not hear you in that day.”

19 Nevertheless the people (G)refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be (H)like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 8:16 LXX cattle

10 Samuel told(A) all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take(B) your sons and make them serve(C) with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.(D) 12 Some he will assign to be commanders(E) of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your(F) fields and vineyards(G) and olive groves and give them to his attendants.(H) 15 He will take a tenth(I) of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[a] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer(J) you in that day.(K)

19 But the people refused(L) to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want(M) a king(N) over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations,(O) with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 8:16 Septuagint; Hebrew young men

Samuel Warns against a Kingdom

10 So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. 12 Some will be generals and captains in his army,[a] some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. 13 The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. 14 He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. 16 He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle[b] and donkeys for his own use. 17 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. 20 “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

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Footnotes

  1. 8:12 Hebrew commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties.
  2. 8:16 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads young men.