1Sa 8:5-22, 12:12-19 | ESV | STEP | and said to him, Behold , you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways . Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations .

1 Samuel 8:5-22

5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^aNow 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, ^bfor they have not rejected you, ^cbut 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 ^dand show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, ^e“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^fhe will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^gto plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 ^hHe will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men ^{▼▼Septuagint cattle} and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ^jbut the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel’s Request

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 ^kthat 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 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, ^l“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

1 Samuel 12:12-19

12 And when you saw that ^mNahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, ⁿyou said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ ^owhen the Lord your God was your king. 13 And now ^pbehold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, ^qthe Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will ^rfear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But ^sif you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then ^tthe hand of the Lord will be against you and ^uyour king. ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew fathers} 16 Now therefore ^wstand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 ^xIs it not wheat harvest today? ^yI will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that ^zyour wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, ^aaand all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

19 And all the people said to Samuel, ^ab“Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”