8:1 And it came to pass, when Shemuel (שׁמוּאל) was old, that he made his banim judges over Yisrael.
8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Yo'el; and the name of his second, Aviyah: [they were] judges in Be'er Sheva.
8:3 And his banim walked not in his drakhim, but turned aside after aside, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
8:4 Then all the Zekenim Yisrael gathered themselves together, and came to Shemuel (שׁמוּאל) to Ramah,
8:5 And said to him:
Behold, you art old, and your banim walk not in your drakhim: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
8:6 But the thing displeased Shemuel (שׁמוּאל), when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Shemuel (שׁמוּאל) prayed to YEHOVAH (יהוה).
8:7 And YEHOVAH (יהוה) said to Shemuel (שׁמוּאל):
Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee: for they have not rejected your, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
8:8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Mitzrayim even to this day, wherewith they have forsaken Me, and served other gods, so do they also to your.
8:9 Now therefore hearken to their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly to them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
8:10 And Shemuel (שׁמוּאל) told all the Devarim YEHOVAH (יהוה) to the people that asked of him a king.
8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your banim, and appoint [them] for himself, for his chariots, and [to be] his horsemen; and [some] shall run before his chariots.
8:12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and [will set them] to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
8:13 And he will take your daughters [to be] confectionaries, and [to be] cooks, and [to be] bakers.
8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, [even] the best [of them], and give [them] to his avadim.
8:15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his avadim.
8:16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidavadim, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put [them] to his work.
8:17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his avadim.
8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and YEHOVAH (יהוה) will not hear you in that day.
8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Shemuel (שׁמוּאל); and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
8:20 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.
8:21 And Shemuel (שׁמוּאל) heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of YEHOVAH (יהוה).
8:22 And YEHOVAH (יהוה) said to Shemuel (שׁמוּאל), Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Shemuel (שׁמוּאל) said to the men of Yisrael, Go ye every man to his city.