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

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

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

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

⁵ and 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.

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

⁷ And 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.

⁸ According 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.

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

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

¹¹ And 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;

¹² and [he will take them] that he may appoint for himself captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and that they may plough his ground, and reap his harvest, and make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots.

¹³ And he will take your daughters for perfumers, and cooks, and bakers.

¹⁴ And your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, the best, will he take and give to his servants.

¹⁵ And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his chamberlains and to his servants.

¹⁶ And he will take your bondmen, and your bondwomen, and your comeliest young men, and your asses, and use them for his work.

¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your sheep. And ye shall be his servants.

¹⁸ And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye have chosen; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.

¹⁹ And the people refused to hearken to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,

²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations; and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and conduct our wars.

²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the ears of Jehovah.

²² And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go ye every man to his city.

¹ Thou shalt not sacrifice to Jehovah thy God an ox or sheep wherein is a defect, or anything bad; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God.

² If there be found in thy midst in any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth what is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, in transgressing his covenant,

³ and goeth and serveth other gods, and boweth down to them, either to the sun or to the moon, or to the whole host of heaven, which I have not commanded;

⁴ and it be told thee, and thou hearest of it; then thou shalt make thorough inquiry, and if it be truth [and] the thing be certain, that this abomination hath been wrought in Israel,

⁵ thou shalt bring forth that man or that woman, who committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, the man or the woman, and shalt stone them with stones, that they die.

⁶ At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death: he shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness.

⁷ The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.

⁸ If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which Jehovah thy God will choose.

⁹ And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment;

¹⁰ and thou shalt do according to the tenor of the word, which they of that place which Jehovah will choose shall declare unto thee; and thou shalt take heed to do according to all that they instruct thee:

¹¹ according to the sentence of the law which they shall declare unto thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, or the left.

¹² And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel.

¹³ And all the people shall hear, and fear, and no more act presumptuously.

¹⁴ When thou comest unto the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are about me;

¹⁵ thou shalt only set him king over thee whom Jehovah thy God will choose: from among thy brethren shalt thou set a king over thee; thou mayest not set a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother.

¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor lead back the people to Egypt, to multiply horses; for Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall not return again any more that way.

¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

¹⁸ And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites;

¹⁹ and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;

²⁰ that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his sons, in the midst of Israel.