¹⁹ But the people refused^(A) to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want^(B) a king^(C) over us.

The King

¹⁴ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession^(A) of it and settled in it,^(B) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”^{(C) 15} be sure to appoint^(D) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.^(E) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses^(F) for himself^(G) or make the people return to Egypt^(H) to get more of them,^(I) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”^{(J) 17} He must not take many wives,^(K) or his heart will be led astray.^(L) He must not accumulate^(M) large amounts of silver and gold.^(N)

¹⁸ When he takes the throne^(O) of his kingdom, he is to write^(P) for himself on a scroll a copy^(Q) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life^(R) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees^{(S) 20} and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law^(T) to the right or to the left.^(U) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.^(V)

¹⁹ But you have now rejected^(A) your God, who saves^(B) you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king^(C) over us.’^(D) So now present^(E) yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

¹² “But when you saw that Nahash^(A) king^(B) of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule^(C) over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king.

¹³ Now here is the king^(A) you have chosen, the one you asked^(B) for; see, the Lord has set a king over you.