⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations.” ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ According to all the deeds which they have done to me,^[a] from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. ⁹ Now then, hearken to their voice; only, you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking a king from him. ¹¹ He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots;