Parallel Bible results for "1 samuel 8"

1 Samuel 8

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel.

2 The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.

3 And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging.

4 Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah,

5 And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations.

6 But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord.

7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them.

8 As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you.

9 Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler.

10 And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the people who were desiring a king.

11 And he said, This is the sort of king who will be your ruler: he will take your sons and make them his servants, his horsemen, and drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his war-carriages;

12 And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages.

13 Your daughters he will take to be makers of perfumes and cooks and bread-makers.

14 He will take your fields and your vine-gardens and your olive-gardens, all the best of them, and give them to his servants.

15 He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants.

16 He will take your men-servants and your servant-girls, and the best of your oxen and your asses and put them to his work.

17 He will take a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his servants.

18 Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day.

19 But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us,

20 So that we may be like the other nations, and so that our king may be our judge and go out before us to war.

21 Then Samuel, after hearing all the people had to say, went and gave an account of it to the Lord.

22 And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town.

Good News Translation GNT

1 When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges in Israel.

2 The older son was named Joel and the younger one Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.

3 But they did not follow their father's example; they were interested only in making money, so they accepted bribes and did not decide cases honestly.

4 Then all the leaders of Israel met together, went to Samuel in Ramah,

5 and said to him, "Look, you are getting old and your sons don't follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have."

6 Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the Lord,

7 and the Lord said, "Listen to everything the people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they have rejected as their king.

8 Ever since I brought them out of Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshiped other gods; and now they are doing to you what they have always done to me.

9 So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them."

10 Samuel told the people who were asking him for a king everything that the Lord had said to him.

11 "This is how your king will treat you," Samuel explained. "He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots.

12 He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots.

13 Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers.

14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials.

15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials.

16 He will take your servants and your best cattle and donkeys, and make them work for him.

17 He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves.

18 When that time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you yourselves chose, but the Lord will not listen to your complaints."

19 The people paid no attention to Samuel, but said, "No! We want a king,

20 so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles."

21 Samuel listened to everything they said and then went and told it to the Lord.

22 The Lord answered, "Do what they want and give them a king." Then Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back home.