Israel Demands a King

1 Samuel 8

1 When Samuel became old, r 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 Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways s but turned aside after gain. t They took bribes and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at p Ramah 5 and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. u Now appoint for 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." And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, v for they have not rejected you, w but they have rejected me from being king over them. 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. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them x and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 16:18
    You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 18:21
    Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
  3. Cross References
    Exodus 23:8
    And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
    Deuteronomy 16:19
    You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
    Psalms 15:5
    Who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
  4. Cross References
    1 Samuel 7:17
    Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.
  5. Cross References
    1 Samuel 8:19 - 20
    But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, "No! But there shall be a king over us.
    Deuteronomy 17:14
    "When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,'
    Hosea 13:10
    Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? Where are all your rulers - those of whom you said, "Give me a king and princes"?
    Acts 13:21
    Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
  6. Cross References
    Exodus 16:8
    And Moses said, "When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him - what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.
  7. Cross References
    1 Samuel 10:19
    But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, 'Set a king over us.' Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.
  8. Cross References
    1 Samuel 8:11 - 18
    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.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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