1 Samuel 8:18

18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

1 Samuel 8:18 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.
English Standard Version (ESV)
18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day."
New Living Translation (NLT)
18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the LORD will not help you.”
The Message Bible (MSG)
18 The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don't expect God to answer."
American Standard Version (ASV)
18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
18 "When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. The LORD will not answer you when that day comes."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
18 When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you've chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won't answer you on that day."
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
18 "When that time comes, you will cry out for help because of the king you have chosen. But the LORD won't answer you at that time."

1 Samuel 8:18 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 8:18

And ye shall cry out in that day, because of your king
His power and pride, his oppression and tyranny, his heavy exactions, and intolerable yoke, and yet not be able to free themselves from them; all that they could do would be only to cry out under them as grievously distressed, and not knowing how to help themselves; and which would be the more aggravated, because they brought all this upon themselves, as it follows:

which ye shall have chosen you;
for though the choice of a king for them, at a proper time, God had reserved to himself, yet in later times, as is here suggested, they would choose for themselves, and did, see ( Hosea 8:4 ) besides, to have a king in general was at first their own choice, though the particular person was by the designation of the Lord:

and the Lord will not hear you in that day;
will not regard them, have no compassion on them, suffer them to remain under their oppressions, and not deliver them out of them; because they rejected him from being their King, and put themselves out of his protection, into the hands of another, and therefore it was just to leave them to their own choice.

1 Samuel 8:18 In-Context

16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

Cross References 2

  • 1. 1 Samuel 28:6; Job 27:9; Job 35:12,13; Psalms 18:41; Psalms 66:18; Proverbs 1:28; Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 58:4; Isaiah 59:2; Jeremiah 14:12; Ezekiel 8:18; Micah 3:4
  • 2. 1 Samuel 10:25; 1 Kings 12:4
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