1 Samuel 8 - Common English Bible (CEB)

Israel demands a king

8 Now when Samuel got old, he appointed his sons to serve as Israel’s judges. ²The name of his oldest son was Joel; the name of the second was Abijah. They served as judges in Beer-sheba. ³But Samuel’s sons didn’t follow in his footsteps. They tried to turn a profit, they accepted bribes, and they perverted justice.

⁴So all the Israelite elders got together and went to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵They said to him, “Listen. You are old now, and your sons don’t follow in your footsteps. So appoint us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” ⁶It seemed very bad to Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” so he prayed to the Lord.

⁷The Lord answered Samuel, “Comply with the people’s request—everything they ask of you—because they haven’t rejected you. No, they’ve rejected me as king over them. ⁸They are doing to you only what they’ve been doing to me^[a] from the day I brought them out of Egypt to this very minute, abandoning me and worshipping other gods. ⁹So comply with their request, but give them a clear warning, telling them how the king will rule over them.”^[b]

¹⁰Then Samuel explained everything the Lord had said to the people who were asking for a king. ¹¹“This is how the king will rule over you,” Samuel said:

“He will take your sons, and will use them for his chariots and his cavalry and as runners for his chariot. ¹²He will use them as his commanders of troops of one thousand and troops of fifty, or to do his plowing and his harvesting, or to make his weapons or parts for his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, or bakers. ¹⁴He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his servants. ¹⁵He will give one-tenth of your grain and your vineyards to his officials and servants. ¹⁶He will take your male and female servants, along with the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys, and make them do his work. ¹⁷He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and then you yourselves will become his slaves! ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose for yourselves, but on that day the Lord won’t answer you.”

¹⁹But the people refused to listen to Samuel and said, “No! There must be a king over us ²⁰so we can be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles.”

²¹Samuel listened to everything the people said and repeated it directly to the Lord. ²²Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Comply with their request. Give them a king.”

Samuel then told the Israelite people, “Go back, each of you, to your own hometown.”

Footnotes

1 Samuel 8:8 LXX; MT lacks to me.
1 Samuel 8:9 Or telling them the lawful practice of the king; also in 8:11; cf 10:25.
1 Samuel 8:16 LXX; MT young men

1 Samuel 8 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

8 And it cometh to pass, when Samuel [is] aged, that he maketh his sons judges over Israel. 2 And the name of his first-born son is Joel, and the name of his second Abiah, judges in Beer-Sheba: 3 and his sons have not walked in his ways, and turn aside after the dishonest gain, and take a bribe, and...
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1 Samuel 8 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

8 And it was done, when Samuel waxed eld, he set his sons to be judges of Israel. (And it was done, when Samuel grew old, he made his sons to be judges in Israel.) 2 And the name of his first begotten son was Joel, and the name of the second was Abiah, that were judges in Beersheba (and they were ju...
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1 Samuel 8 - World English Bible (WEB)

8 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 elde...
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1 Samuel 8 - The Voice (VOICE)

8 When Samuel was old, he named his sons judges of Israel to rule over the people and be their deliverers. 2 His first son, Joel, and his second son, Abijah, were judges in Beersheba, 3 but they were not like Samuel. They profited from dishonesty, took bribes, and fostered injustice. 4 So the eld...
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1 Samuel 8 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Israel Demands a King8 Now when Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second Abijah—they were judges in Beersheba. 3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain—they took bribes ...
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1 Samuel 8 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Israel Demands a King8 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his first-born son was Jo′el, and the name of his second, Abi′jah; they were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted ...
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1 Samuel 8 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

1 Samuel 8 - New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Israel Demands a King8 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 Yet his sons did not follow in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted j...
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1 Samuel 8 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition (NRSVACE)

1 Samuel 8 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

1 Samuel 8 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Israel Demands a King8 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.(A)2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah; they were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 Yet his sons did not follow in his ways but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted...
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1 Samuel 8 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Israel Requests a King8 As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. 2 Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. 3 But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 Finally, all the elders of Isr...
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1 Samuel 8 - New Life Version (NLV)

Israel Asks for a King8 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges in Israel. 2 The name of his first-born son was Joel. And the name of his second son was Abijah. They were men who judged in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside to get money. They took pay to ...
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1 Samuel 8 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Israel Demands a King8 Now it came to pass when Samuel was (A)old that he (B)made his (C)sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons (D)did not walk in his ways; they turned aside (E)after dishones...
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1 Samuel 8 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Israel asks for a king8 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.[a] 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes a...
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1 Samuel 8 - New International Version (NIV)

Israel Asks for a King8 When Samuel grew old, he appointed(A) his sons as Israel’s leaders.[a] 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah,(B) and they served at Beersheba.(C) 3 But his sons(D) did not follow his ways. They turned aside(E) after dishonest gain and acce...
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1 Samuel 8 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Israel Asks for a King8 When Samuel became old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his oldest son was Joel. The name of his second son was Abijah. They served as judges at Beersheba. 3 But his sons didn’t live as he did. They were only interested in making money. They accepte...
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1 Samuel 8 - New English Translation (NET)

Israel Seeks a King8 In his old age Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beer Sheba. 3 But his sons did not follow[a] his ways. Instead, they made money dishonestly, accepted bribes...
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1 Samuel 8 - Common English Bible (CEB)

Israel demands a king

Footnotes

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