31 The Philistines fought against the Israelites. The Israelites ran away, and the Philistines killed many of them on Gilboa mountain. 2 The Philistines chased after Saul and his sons to catch them. They killed Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.
3 The Philistines were fighting the battle all around Saul. Some of their soldiers saw Saul and they shot their arrows at him. The arrows hurt Saul very much and he was nearly dead. 4 He said to the young man who carried his armour, ‘Kill me now with your sword. I do not want these foreign men to be cruel to me as they kill me.’ But the young man would not agree to kill Saul because he was too afraid. So Saul took his own sword and he threw himself onto it so that he died. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead. So he threw himself onto his own sword and he also died.
6 So Saul died there, with his three sons. The young man who carried Saul's armour and all Saul's men died too.
7 The Israelites who lived in the Jezreel valley and on the other side of the Jordan River saw what happened. They saw that the Israelite army had run away from the Philistines. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and they ran away. Then the Philistines came to live in those towns.
8 The day after the battle, the Philistines came to take all the valuable things from the dead soldiers. They found the dead bodies of Saul and his three sons on Gilboa mountain. 9 They cut off Saul's head and they removed his armour. Then they sent men through all the country of the Philistines with the news of Saul's death. These men told the news everywhere that the Philistine people lived and in the temples of their idols. 10 They put Saul's armour in the temple of their god Ashtoreth. Then they hung Saul's dead body on the wall of Beth Shan town. [ a ]
11 The Israelites who lived in Jabesh Gilead heard about what the Philistines had done to Saul's body. [ b ] 12 So all their brave soldiers left Jabesh Gilead and they marched all night to Beth Shan. They removed the dead bodies of Saul and his sons from the town's wall. Then they took them to Jabesh Gilead. They burned the dead bodies there. 13 Then they took the bones and they buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh Gilead. The men did not eat any food for seven days because they were so sad.
31 Meanwhile, the Philistines fought against the Israelites, and the Israelites ran from them. There were many dead bodies that fell at Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines fought hard against Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki Shua.
3 The battle grew even more intense around Saul. The archers closed in on Saul and wounded him with many arrows. 4 Saul told the boy who carried his armor, “Take your sword and kill me or else these foreigners will do it and torment me as well!” But Saul’s helper was afraid and refused to kill him. So Saul took out his own sword and fell on it.
5 When the helper saw that Saul was dead, he took out his own sword, fell on it, and died there with Saul. 6 So Saul, his three sons, and the boy who carried his armor all died together that day.
7 The Israelites who lived on the other side of the valley saw the Israelite army running away. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead, so they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in their cities.
8 The next day, the Philistines went back to take things from the dead bodies. They found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and took all his armor. They carried the news to the Philistines and to all the temples of their idols. 10 They put Saul’s armor in the temple of Ashtoreth. The Philistines also hung Saul’s body on the wall of Beth Shan. [ a ]
11 The people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines did to Saul. 12 So all the soldiers of Jabesh went to Beth Shan. They marched all night, went to the wall of Beth Shan, and took down the bodies of Saul and his sons. Then they carried them to Jabesh. There the people of Jabesh burned the bodies of Saul and his three sons. 13 Later, they buried the bones of Saul and his three sons under the big tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh showed their sadness—they did not eat for seven days.
31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul's sons.
3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.
9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.
10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;
12 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.
13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
31 ( A ) Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded ( B ) on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines [ a ] killed ( C ) Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 ( D ) The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was gravely wounded by the archers. 4 ( E ) Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise ( F ) these uncircumcised Philistines will come and pierce me through, and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was unwilling, because he was very fearful. ( G ) So Saul took [ b ] his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
7 Now when the people of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and settled in them.
8 It came about on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them [ c ] throughout the land of the Philistines, ( H ) to bring the good news ( I ) to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his weapons in the [ d ] temple of ( J ) Ashtaroth, and ( K ) they nailed his body to the wall of ( L ) Beth-shan. 11 Now when ( M ) the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard [ e ] what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 ( N ) all the valiant men got up and walked all night, and they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and ( O ) burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and ( P ) buried them under ( Q ) the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and ( R ) fasted for seven days.
31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. ( B ) 2 The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, ( C ) and they killed his sons Jonathan, ( D ) Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ( E ) 3 The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded ( F ) him critically.
4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, ( G ) or these uncircumcised ( H ) fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”
But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died ( I ) together that same day.
7 When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.
8 The next day, when the Philistines ( J ) came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news ( K ) in the temple of their idols and among their people. ( L ) 10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths ( M ) and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. ( N )
11 When the people of Jabesh Gilead ( O ) heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their valiant men ( P ) marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned ( Q ) them. 13 Then they took their bones ( R ) and buried them under a tamarisk ( S ) tree at Jabesh, and they fasted ( T ) seven days. ( U )
