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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 8 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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Israel Demands a King

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:1 - When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:2 - The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:3 - Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:4 - Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:5 - and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:6 - But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:7 - And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:8 - According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:9 - Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:10 - So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:11 - He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:12 - And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:13 - He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:14 - He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:15 - He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:16 - He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men[fn] and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:17 - He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:18 - And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel’s Request

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:19 - But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:20 - that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:21 - And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 8:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:22 - And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
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Septuagint cattle
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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1 Samuel Chapter 8 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras