Samuel's Warning Against Kings

1 Samuel 8

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. ¹¹ And he said, _m "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your _n sons and appoint them for his own _o chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² "He will _p appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ "He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴ "And _q he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ "He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ "And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ₁ young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ "He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. ¹⁸ "And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD _r will not hear you in that day."

1. Cross References
   1 Samuel 8:11 - 18
   And he said, "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.
   
2. Cross References
   Deuteronomy 17:14 - 20
   "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,'
   
3. Cross References
   1 Samuel 14:52
   Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him for himself.
   
4. Cross References
   2 Samuel 15:1
   After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
   
5. Cross References
   1 Samuel 22:7
   Then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, "Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds?
   
6. Cross References
   1 Kings 21:7
   Then Jezebel his wife said to him, "You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
   Ezekiel 46:18
   "Moreover the prince shall not take any of the people's inheritance by evicting them from their property; he shall provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people may be scattered from his property." '"
   

New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.