1 Samuel 8

1 And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

2 And the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah; they judged in Beer-sheba.

The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.

3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah,

Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah,

5 and said to him, Behold, thou art become old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now appoint us a king to judge us, like all the nations.

And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations.

6 And the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Jehovah.

But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord.

7 And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them.

8 According to all the deeds that they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you.

9 And now hearken unto their voice; only, testify solemnly unto them, and declare unto them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler.

10 And Samuel spoke all the words of Jehovah to the people that asked of him a king.

And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the people who were desiring a king.

11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, on his chariot and among his horsemen, and they shall run before his chariots;

And he said, This is the sort of king who will be your ruler: he will take your sons and make them his servants, his horsemen, and drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his war-carriages;

12 and [he will take them] that he may appoint for himself captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and that they may plough his ground, and reap his harvest, and make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots.

And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages.

13 And he will take your daughters for perfumers, and cooks, and bakers.

Your daughters he will take to be makers of perfumes and cooks and bread-makers.

14 And your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, the best, will he take and give to his servants.

He will take your fields and your vine-gardens and your olive-gardens, all the best of them, and give them to his servants.

15 And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his chamberlains and to his servants.

He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants.

16 And he will take your bondmen, and your bondwomen, and your comeliest young men, and your asses, and use them for his work.

He will take your men-servants and your servant-girls, and the best of your oxen and your asses and put them to his work.

17 He will take the tenth of your sheep. And ye shall be his servants.

He will take a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his servants.

18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye have chosen; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.

Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day.

19 And the people refused to hearken to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,

But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us,

20 that we also may be like all the nations; and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and conduct our wars.

So that we may be like the other nations, and so that our king may be our judge and go out before us to war.

21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the ears of Jehovah.

Then Samuel, after hearing all the people had to say, went and gave an account of it to the Lord.

22 And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go ye every man to his city.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town.