1 Samuel 8
By occasion of the ill government of Samuel's sons, the Israelites ask a king.
1 Samuel 8:1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. 1 Samuel 8:2 Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the name of the second was Abia, judges in Bersabee. 1 Samuel 8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. 1 Samuel 8:4 Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled came to Samuel to Ramatha. 1 Samuel 8:5 And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.
Samuel praying in grief is comforted by God.
1 Samuel 8:6 And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 1 Samuel 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them. 1 Samuel 8:8 According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they also unto thee. 1 Samuel 8:9 Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them.
He telleth the manner of a king.
1 Samuel 8:10 Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him, 1 Samuel 8:11 And said: This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen, to run before his chariots, 1 Samuel 8:12 And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and his centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots. 1 Samuel 8:13 Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers. 1 Samuel 8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants. 1 Samuel 8:15 Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants. 1 Samuel 8:16 Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work. 1 Samuel 8:17 Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants. 1 Samuel 8:18 And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves: and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king.
God willeth Samuel to yield unto the importunity of the people.
1 Samuel 8:19 But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay: but there shall be a king over us, 1 Samuel 8:20 And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us. 1 Samuel 8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. 1 Samuel 8:22 And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city.
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