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Israel Requests a King
As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.
As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.
The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.
Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba.
But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel.
“Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.
Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the LORD for guidance.
And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
“Do everything they say to you,” the LORD replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.
As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment.
Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”
Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.
Samuel Warns against a Kingdom
So Samuel passed on the LORD’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king.
He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
“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.
Some he will assign to be commanders 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.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials.
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants.
He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves.
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the LORD will not help you.”
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said.
Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
“We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”
When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord.
So Samuel repeated to the LORD what the people had said,