And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an
altar unto the LORD.
1Sam.8
[1] And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
[2] Now the
name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.
[3]
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
[4]
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
[5] And
said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy 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.
And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
[7] And the LORD said unto 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 works which they have done since the day that I
brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other
gods, so do they also unto thee.
[9] Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly
unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
[10] And Samuel told all
the words of the LORD unto 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, for his chariots,
and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
[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.
[13] And he will take your daughters
to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
[14] And he will take your fields, and your vineyards,
and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
[15] And he will take the tenth
of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
[16] And he will take
your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put
them to 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 which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you
in that day.
[19] Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; 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] And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he
rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.
[22] And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice,
and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.
1Sam.9
[1] Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the
son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
[2] And he had a son, whose
name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a
goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
[3] And
the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants
with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.
[4] And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through
the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there
they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.
[5] And when
they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest
my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us.
[6] And he said unto him, Behold now,
there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now
let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go.
[7] Then said Saul to his servant,
But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is
not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?
[8] And the servant answered Saul again, and
said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God,
to tell us our way.
[9] (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come,
and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)
[10] Then
said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God