BibleInTonguesWEB
1 Samuel 8
Samuel grows old and appoints his sons Joel and Abijah as judges in Beersheba — but they take bribes and pervert justice. So the elders gather at Ramah and demand a king "like all the nations." The request stings Samuel, but the LORD tells him the people are rejecting not him but God himself. Watch the speech Samuel is told to deliver: a blunt catalogue of what a king will take — sons, daughters, fields, a tenth of everything — and yet the people still insist.
- 1
When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
- 2
Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.
- 3
His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- 4
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel to Ramah.
- 5
They said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons don’t walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
- 6
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to the LORD.
- 7
The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- 8
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they also do to you.
- 9
Now therefore, listen to their voice. However, you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the way of the king who will reign over them.”
- 10
Samuel told all the LORD’s words to the people who asked him for a king.
- 11
He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots.
- 12
He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest; and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of his chariots.
- 13
He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers.
- 14
He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even your best, and give them to his servants.
- 15
He will take one tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and to his servants.
- 16
He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and assign them to his own work.
- 17
He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants.
- 18
You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
- 19
But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us,
- 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.”
- 21
Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.
- 22
The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and make them a king.” Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go to your own city.”
- 1
Y ACONTECIÓ que habiendo Samuel envejecido, puso sus hijos por jueces sobre Israel.
- 2
Y el nombre de su hijo primogénito fué Joel, y el nombre del segundo, Abia: fueron jueces en Beer-sebah.
- 3
Mas no anduvieron los hijos por los caminos de su padre, antes se ladearon tras la avaricia, recibiendo cohecho y pervirtiendo el derecho.
- 4
Entonces todos los ancianos de Israel se juntaron, y vinieron á Samuel en Rama,
- 5
Y dijéronle: He aquí tú has envejecido, y tus hijos no van por tus caminos: por tanto, constitúyenos ahora un rey que nos juzgue, como todas las gentes.
- 6
Y descontentó á Samuel esta palabra que dijeron: Danos rey que nos juzgue. Y Samuel oró á Jehová.
- 7
Y dijo Jehová á Samuel: Oye la voz del pueblo en todo lo que te dijeren: porque no te han desechado á ti, sino á mí me han desechado, para que no reine sobre ellos.
- 8
Conforme á todas las obras que han hecho desde el día que los saqué de Egipto hasta hoy, que me han dejado y han servido á dioses ajenos, así hacen también contigo.
- 9
Ahora pues, oye su voz: mas protesta contra ellos declarándoles el derecho del rey que ha de reinar sobre ellos.
- 10
Y dijo Samuel todas las palabras de Jehová al pueblo que le había pedido rey.
- 11
Dijo pues: Este será el derecho del rey que hubiere de reinar sobre vosotros: tomará vuestros hijos, y pondrálos en sus carros, y en su gente de á caballo, para que corran delante de su carro:
- 12
Y se elegirá capitanes de mil, y capitanes de cincuenta: pondrálos asimismo á que aren sus campos, y sieguen sus mieses, y á que hagan sus armas de guerra, y los pertrechos de sus carros:
- 13
Tomará también vuestras hijas para que sean perfumadoras, cocineras, y amasadoras.
- 14
Asimismo tomará vuestras tierras, vuestras viñas, y vuestros buenos olivares, y los dará á sus siervos.
- 15
El diezmará vuestras simientes y vuestras viñas, para dar á sus eunucos y á sus siervos.
- 16
El tomará vuestros siervos, y vuestras siervas, y vuestros buenos mancebos, y vuestros asnos, y con ellos hará sus obras.
- 17
Diezmará también vuestro rebaño, y seréis sus siervos.
- 18
Y clamaréis aquel día á causa de vuestro rey que os habréis elegido, mas Jehová no os oirá en aquel día.
- 19
Empero el pueblo no quiso oir la voz de Samuel; antes dijeron: No, sino que habrá rey sobre nosotros:
- 20
Y nosotros seremos también como todas las gentes, y nuestro rey nos gobernará, y saldrá delante de nosotros, y hará nuestras guerras.
- 21
Y oyó Samuel todas las palabras del pueblo, y refiriólas en oídos de Jehová.
- 22
Y Jehová dijo á Samuel: Oye su voz, y pon rey sobre ellos. Entonces dijo Samuel á los varones de Israel: Idos cada uno á su ciudad.
"The way of the king": a warning, not a job description
Samuel's listing in verses 11-18 hammers one verb — "he will take": sons for chariots, daughters for kitchens, the best fields and vineyards, a tenth of the harvest, until "you will be his servants." Monarchy is framed from the start as a system of extraction.
The grim climax is verse 18: "the LORD will not answer you in that day." The very deliverance Samuel just secured at Mizpah in chapter 7 is what the people are trading away. Their refrain — to be "like all the nations" — undoes Israel's whole claim to be different.
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
- 1 Samuel 1:27Related through the topic "Prayer".
- 1 Samuel 16:16Related through the topic "Prayer".
- Daniel 9:3Related through the topic "Prayer".
- Matthew 21:22Related through the topic "Prayer".
- Genesis 20:17Related through the topic "Prayer".
- Exodus 8:30Related through the topic "Prayer".
- Exodus 10:18Related through the topic "Prayer".
- Numbers 11:2Related through the topic "Prayer".
Share a small range via:
/en/web/1-samuel/8/16-18
Or use the Passage link builder.