Bible Gateway passage: 1 Samuel 8:5-22, Hosea 8:4 - New International Version (2024)

⁵They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king^(A) to lead^[a](B) us, such as all the other nations^(C) have.”

⁶But when they said, “Give us a king^(D) to lead us,” this displeased^(E) Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷And the Lord told him: “Listen^(F) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,^(G) but they have rejected me as their king.^{(H) 8}As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking^(I) me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know^(J) what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

¹⁰Samuel told^(K) all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take^(L) your sons and make them serve^(M) with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.^{(N) 12}Some he will assign to be commanders^(O) of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴He will take the best of your^(P) fields and vineyards^(Q) and olive groves and give them to his attendants.^{(R) 15}He will take a tenth^(S) of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[b] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer^(T) you in that day.^(U)”

¹⁹But the people refused^(V) to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want^(W) a king^(X) over us. ²⁰Then we will be like all the other nations,^(Y) with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated^(Z) it before the Lord. ²²The Lord answered, “Listen^(AA) to them and give them a king.”

Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”

Footnotes

1. 1 Samuel 8:5 Traditionally judge; also in verses 6 and 20
2. 1 Samuel 8:16 Septuagint; Hebrew young men

Cross references

1. 1 Samuel 8:5 : ver 19; S Dt 17:14-20; 1Sa 10:19; 12:12, 13; Hos 13:11
2. 1 Samuel 8:5 : 1Sa 3:20; 12:2
3. 1 Samuel 8:5 : ver 20
4. 1 Samuel 8:6 : Hos 13:10
5. 1 Samuel 8:6 : 1Sa 12:17; 15:11; 16:1
6. 1 Samuel 8:7 : ver 22; 1Sa 12:1
7. 1 Samuel 8:7 : S Nu 11:20
8. 1 Samuel 8:7 : S Ex 16:8
9. 1 Samuel 8:8 : 1Sa 12:10; 2Ki 21:22; Jer 2:17
10. 1 Samuel 8:9 : ver 11-18; S Dt 17:14-20; 1Sa 10:25
11. 1 Samuel 8:10 : S Ex 19:7
12. 1 Samuel 8:11 : 1Sa 14:52
13. 1 Samuel 8:11 : S Ge 41:46
14. 1 Samuel 8:11 : S Dt 17:16; 2Sa 15:1; 1Ki 1:5; 2Ch 1:14; 9:25; SS 3:7
15. 1 Samuel 8:12 : S Dt 1:15
16. 1 Samuel 8:14 : Eze 46:18
17. 1 Samuel 8:14 : 1Ki 21:7, 15; Mic 2:2
18. 1 Samuel 8:14 : 2Ki 22:12
19. 1 Samuel 8:15 : S Ge 41:34; 1Sa 17:25
20. 1 Samuel 8:18 : 1Sa 28:6; Job 27:9; 35:12, 13; Ps 18:41; 66:18; Pr 1:28; Isa 1:15; 58:4; 59:2; Jer 14:12; Eze 8:18; Mic 3:4
21. 1 Samuel 8:18 : 1Sa 10:25; 1Ki 12:4
22. 1 Samuel 8:19 : Pr 1:24; Isa 50:2; 66:4; Jer 7:13; 8:12; 13:10; 44:16
23. 1 Samuel 8:19 : Ac 13:21
24. 1 Samuel 8:19 : S ver 5
25. 1 Samuel 8:20 : S ver 5
26. 1 Samuel 8:21 : S Jdg 11:11
27. 1 Samuel 8:22 : S ver 7

⁴They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.^(A)
With their silver and gold
they make idols^(B) for themselves
to their own destruction.

Cross references

1. Hosea 8:4 : Hos 13:10
2. Hosea 8:4 : S Hos 2:8; 13:1-2