1 Samuel 31
New American Standard Bible
Saul and His Sons Killed in Battle
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.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 31:2 Lit struck
- 1 Samuel 31:4 Lit the sword
- 1 Samuel 31:9 Lit into...Philistines on all sides
- 1 Samuel 31:10 Lit house
- 1 Samuel 31:11 Lit about him, what
1 Samuel 31
King James Version
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.
1 Samuel 31
Living Bible
31 Meanwhile the Philistines had begun the battle against Israel, and the Israelis fled from them and were slaughtered wholesale on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines closed in on Saul and killed his sons Jonathan, Abinidab, and Malchishua.
3-4 Then the archers overtook Saul and wounded him badly. He groaned to his armor bearer, “Kill me with your sword before these heathen Philistines capture me and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid to, so Saul took his own sword and fell upon the point of the blade, and it pierced him through. 5 When his armor bearer saw that he was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul, his armor bearer, his three sons, and his troops died together that same day.
7 When the Israelis on the other side of the valley and beyond the Jordan heard that their comrades had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities; and the Philistines lived in them.
8 The next day when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor and sent the wonderful news of Saul’s death to their idols and to the people throughout their land.
10 His armor was placed in the temple of Ashtaroth, and his body was fastened to the wall of Beth-shan.
11 But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done, 12 warriors from that town traveled all night to Beth-shan and took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall and brought them to Jabesh, where they cremated them. 13 Then they buried their remains beneath the oak tree at Jabesh and fasted for seven days.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.