1 Samuel 7-8

Legacy Standard Bible

7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and brought the ark of Yahweh up and ^(A)brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill and set apart Eleazar his son as holy in order to keep the ark of Yahweh. ² Now it happened from the day when the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; it was twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh.

Samuel Judges Israel

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “^(B)If you are to return to Yahweh with all your heart, then ^(C)remove the foreign gods and the ^(D)Ashtaroth from among you and ^(E)set your hearts toward Yahweh and ^(F)serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served Yahweh alone.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to ^(G)Mizpah, and ^(H)I will pray to Yahweh for you.” ⁶ And they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and ^(I)poured it out before Yahweh and ^(J)fasted on that day and said there, “^(K)We have sinned against Yahweh.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ Then the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah. And the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. Then the sons of Israel heard it and ^(L)were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^(M)Do not cease to cry out to Yahweh our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ And Samuel took ^(N)a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to Yahweh; and Samuel cried out to Yahweh for Israel, and ^(O)Yahweh answered him. ¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But ^(P)Yahweh thundered with a great ^[a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(Q)confused them, so that they were ^[b]defeated before Israel. ¹¹ So the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel ^(R)took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it ^[c]Ebenezer. And he said, “Thus far Yahweh has helped us.” ^13 (S)So the Philistines were subdued, and ^(T)they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴ And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and ^(U)the Amorites.

¹⁵ Thus Samuel ^(V)judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ And he used to go annually on circuit to ^(W)Bethel and ^(X)Gilgal and ^(Y)Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷ But his return would be to ^(Z)Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he ^(AA)built there an altar to Yahweh.

Israel Tells Samuel to Appoint a King

8 And it happened when Samuel was old that ^(AB)he appointed his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^(AC)Beersheba. ³ But his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after greedy gain and ^(AD)took bribes and caused justice to turn aside.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(AE)Ramah; ⁵ and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(AF)appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing was ^(AG)evil in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And ^(AH)Samuel prayed to Yahweh. ⁷ Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for ^(AI)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 forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹ So now, listen to their voice; ^(AJ)however, you shall solemnly ^[d]testify to them and tell them of ^(AK)the ^[e]custom of the king who will reign over them.”

The People Refuse Samuel’s Words

¹⁰ So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to ^(AL)the people who had asked of him a king. ¹¹ And he said, “^(AM)This will be the ^[f]custom of the king who will reign over you: ^(AN)he will take your sons and appoint them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen, and ^(AO)they will run before his chariots. ^12 (AP)And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to ^[g]do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. ^14 (AQ)He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his ^[h]servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will also take your male slaves and your female slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and ^[i]use them for his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ Then ^(AR)you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^(AS)Yahweh will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹ Nevertheless, the people ^(AT)refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, ^20 (AU)that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” ²¹ So Samuel heard all the words of the people, and ^(AV)he repeated them in the hearing of Yahweh. ²² Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “^(AW)Listen to their voice and ^[j]appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”