1 Samuel 8:5-7

8:5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead ¹  us, just like all the other nations have.”

8:6 But this request displeased Samuel, for ²  they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 8:7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do everything the people request of you. ³  For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king.

1 Samuel 8:19-20

8:19 But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning. ⁴  Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! 8:20 We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us ⁵  and fight our battles.”

1 Samuel 12:19

12:19 All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of us – your servants – so we won’t die, for we have added to all our sins by asking for a king.” ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “judge” (also in v. 6).

² tn Heb “when.”

³ tn Heb “Listen to the voice of the people, to all which they say to you.”

⁴ tn Heb “and the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel.”

⁵ tn Heb “and go out before us.”

⁶ tn Heb “for we have added to all our sins an evil [thing] by asking for ourselves a king.”