1 Samuel 8:10-18
“Samuel told all the words of Yahweh to the people who asked of him a king. He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them as his charioteers and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers. He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and use them for his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants. You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and Yahweh will not answer you in that day.””
This passage is from the book of 1 Samuel, written likely between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE. It records the prophet Samuel delivering a stark warning from God to the people of Israel who have demanded a king, desiring to be like other nations. Samuel describes the burdens and oppression that a human king will bring.
What does a demand for external conformity, rather than internal faithfulness, cost a community?