¹It happened, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

¹Da Samuel var blevet gammel, satte han sine Sønner til Dommere over Israel;

²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beersheba.

²hans førstefødte Søn hed Joel og hans anden Søn Abija; de dømte i Be'ersjeba.

³His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.

³Men hans Sønner vandrede ikke i hans Spor; de lod sig lede af egen Fordel, tog imod Bestikkelse og bøjede Retten.

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

⁴Da kom alle Israels Ældste sammen og begav sig til Samuel i Rama

⁵and they said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons don’t walk in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁵og sagde til ham: "Se, du er blevet gammel, og dine Sønner vandrer ikke i dit Spor. Sæt derfor en Konge over os til at dømme os, ligesom alle de andre Folk har det!"

⁶But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to Yahweh.

⁶Men det vakte Samuels Mishag, at de sagde: "Giv os en Konge, som kan dømme os!" Og Samuel bad til HERREN.

⁷Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.

⁷Da sagde HERREN til Samuel: "Ret dig i et og alt efter, hvad Folket siger, thi det er ikke dig, de vrager, men det er mig, de vrager som deres Konge.

⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to you.

⁸Ganske som de har handlet imod mig, lige siden jeg førte dem ud af Ægypten og indtil denne Dag, idet de forlod mig og dyrkede andre Guder, således handler de også imod dig.

⁹Now therefore listen to their voice: however you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the way of the king who shall reign over them.”

⁹Men ret dig nu efter dem; dog skal du indtrængende advare dem og lade dem vide, hvad Ret den Konge skal have, som skal herske over dem!"

¹⁰Samuel told all the words of Yahweh to the people who asked of him a king.

¹⁰Så forebragte Samuel Folket, som krævede en Konge af ham, alle HERRENs Ord

¹¹He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots;

¹¹og sagde: "Denne Ret skal den Konge have, som skal herske over eder: Eders Sønner skal han tage og sætte ved sin Vogn og sine Heste, så de må løbe foran hans Vogn,

¹²and he will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.

¹²og sætte dem til Tusindførere og Halvhundredførere og til at pløje og høste for ham og lave hans Krigsredskaber og Vogntøj.

¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

¹³Eders Døtre skal han tage til at blande Salver, koge og bage.

¹⁴He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive groves, even their best, and give them to his servants.

¹⁴De bedste af eders Marker, Vingårde og Oliventræer skal han tage og give sine Folk.

¹⁵He will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

¹⁵Af eders Sæd og Vinhøst skal han tage Tiende og give sine Hofmænd og Tjenere.

¹⁶He will take your male servants, and your female servants, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

¹⁶De bedste af eders Trælle og Trælkvinder, det bedste af eders Hornkvæg og Æsler skal han tage og bruge til sit eget Arbejde.

¹⁷He will take the tenth of your flocks: and you shall be his servants.

¹⁷Af eders Småkvæg skal han tage Tiende; og I selv skal blive hans Trælle.

¹⁸You shall cry out in that day because of your king whom you shall have chosen you; and Yahweh will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁸Og når l da til den Tid klager over eders Konge, som I har valgt eder, så vil HERREN ikke bønhøre eder!"

¹⁹But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No; but we will have a king over us,

¹⁹Folket vilde dog ikke rette sig efter Samuel, men sagde: "Nej, en Konge vil vi have over os,

²⁰that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”

²⁰vi vil have det som alle de andre Folk; vor Konge skal dømme os og drage ud i Spidsen for os og føre vore Krige!"

²¹Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Yahweh.

²¹Da Samuel havde hørt alle Folkets Ord. forebragte han HERREN dem;

²²Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and make them a king.” Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

²²og HERREN sagde til Samuel: "Ret dig efter dem og sæt en Konge over dem!" Da sagde Samuel til Israels Mænd: "Gå hjem, hver til sin By!"