Thou hast destroyed thyself, O Israel, But in Me [is] thy help, Where [is] thy king now — And he doth save thee in all thy cities? And thy judges of whom thou didst say, ‘Give to me a king and heads?’
And it is very displeasing to Moses, and he saith unto Jehovah, ‘Turn not Thou unto their present; not one ass from them have I taken, nor have I afflicted one of them.’
and Moses saith unto Aaron, ‘Take the censer, and put on it fire from off the altar, and place perfume, and go, hasten unto the company, and make atonement for them, for the wrath hath gone out from the presence of Jehovah — the plague hath begun.’
and ye to-day have rejected your God, who [is] Himself your saviour out of all your evils and your distresses, and ye say, ‘Nay, but — a king thou dost set over us; and now, station yourselves before Jehovah, by your tribes, and by your thousands.’
‘And ye see that Nahash king of the Bene-Ammon hath come against you, and ye say to me, Nay, but a king doth reign over us; and Jehovah your God [is] your king!
is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I call unto Jehovah, and He doth give voices and rain; and know ye and see that your evil is great which ye have done in the eyes of Jehovah, to ask for you a king.’
and all the people say unto Samuel, ‘Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy God, and we do not die, for we have added to all our sins evil to ask for us a king.’
‘I have repented that I caused Saul to reign for king, for he hath turned back from after Me, and My words he hath not performed;’ and it is displeasing to Samuel, and he crieth unto Jehovah all the night.