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10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people, who had asked him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who reigns over you will do. He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and with his teams of horses,[a] and they will have to run ahead of his chariots. 12 He will make them serve as commanders of a thousand soldiers and as commanders of fifty. He will assign some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest. He will assign some to make his weapons and the trappings[b] for his chariots.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 8:11 Or charioteers. There is no evidence for the use of cavalry in battle at this time.
  2. 1 Samuel 8:12 Trappings is the technical term for equipment like the reins and harnesses but also includes decorative elements of metal and leather. Collections of chariot trappings have been preserved archaeologically.