1 Samuel 8:10-22
New American Standard Bible
Warning concerning a King
10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to (A)the people who had asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “(B)This will be the [a]practice of the king who will reign over you: (C)he will take your sons and put them in his chariots for himself and among his horsemen, and (D)they will run before his chariots. 12 (E)He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to [b]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 (F)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 [c]use them for his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 18 Then (G)you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but (H)the Lord will not answer you on that day.”
19 Yet the people (I)refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 (J)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, (K)he [d]repeated them in the Lord’s hearing. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “(L)Listen to their voice and appoint a king for them.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go, every man to his city.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 8:11 Lit custom
- 1 Samuel 8:12 Lit plow his plowing
- 1 Samuel 8:16 Lit make
- 1 Samuel 8:21 Lit spoke
1 Samuel 8:10-22
International Standard Version
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[a] to his chariots. He will conscript them[b] 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,[c] 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.[d] 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his officers and servants.[e] 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.[f] 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[g] 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.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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
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