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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 8 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Israel Requests a King
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:1 - As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:2 - Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:3 - But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:4 - Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:5 - “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.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:6 - Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the LORD for guidance.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:7 - “Do everything they say to you,” the LORD replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:8 - 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.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:9 - Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”
Samuel Warns against a Kingdom
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:10 - So Samuel passed on the LORD’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:11 - “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.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:12 - Some will be generals and captains in his army,[fn] some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:13 - The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:14 - He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:15 - He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:16 - He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle[fn] and donkeys for his own use.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:17 - He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:18 - When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the LORD will not help you.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:19 - But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:20 - “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:21 - So Samuel repeated to the LORD what the people had said,
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 8:22 - and the LORD replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties.
As in Greek version; Hebrew reads young men.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

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

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1 Samuel Chapter 8 — Additional Translations: