1 Samuel 8

¹And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

²And the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah; they judged in Beer-sheba.

³And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah,

⁵and said to him, Behold, thou art become old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now appoint us a king to judge us, like all the nations.

⁶And the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Jehovah.

⁷And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

⁸According to all the deeds that they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

⁹And now hearken unto their voice; only, testify solemnly unto them, and declare unto them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

¹⁰And Samuel spoke all the words of Jehovah to the people that asked of him a king.

¹¹And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, on his chariot and among his horsemen, and they shall run before his chariots;