8:1 In his old age Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 8:2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 8:3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. Instead, they turned aside after unjust gain, taking bribes and perverting justice.

8:4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah. 8:5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t walk in your ways. So now appoint over us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

8:6 But this matter was displeasing to Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 8:7 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people with regard to everything that they say to you. For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as king over them. 8:8 According to all the actions that they have taken from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you. 8:9 So now listen to their voice. But really warn them and make them aware of the kinds of decisions that the king who will rule over them will make.”

8:10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 8:11 He said, “This is the kind of decision that the king who will rule over you will make: he will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot. 8:12 He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties,¹ and those who plow his ground, and those who reap his harvest, and those who make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment. 8:13 He will take your daughters to be ointment makers, cooks, and bakers. 8:14 He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants. 8:15 He will appropriate a tenth of your seeds and what your vineyards produce and give it to his eunuchs and his servants. 8:16 He will take your male servants and your female servants and your best cattle and your donkeys and assign them for his own use. 8:17 He will appropriate a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will be his servants. 8:18 In that day you will cry out before your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD won’t answer you in that day.”²

8:19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s voice. Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! 8:20 We will be like all the nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles.”

8:21 So Samuel listened to all the words of the people and then rehearsed them in the LORD’s ears. 8:22 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and install a king over them.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of each go back to his city.”