1 samuel 8 Background Information with Maps and Images (Picture Study Bible - 1 samuel) Free Bible Online

1 samuel 8

1 - 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 aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
4 - Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel to Ramah.
5 - They said to him, "Behold, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways. Now make 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."Samuel prayed to The LORD.
7 - The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
8 - According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so they also do to you.
9 - Now therefore listen to their voice. However you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the way of the king who will reign over them."
10 - Samuel told all The LORD's words to the people who asked him for a king.
11 - He said, "This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots.
12 - He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.
13 - He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers.
14 - He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even their best, and give them to his servants.
15 - He will take one tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers, and to his servants.
16 - He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and assign them to his own work.
17 - He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants.
18 - You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 - But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No; but we will have a king over us,
20 - that 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 - Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of The LORD.
22 - The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to their voice, and make them a king."Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go to your own city."

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Free Bible Online - Picture Study Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: www.free-bible.com, 1995-2013. Bible History Picture Study Bible. Feb 03, 2026.

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