| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. | 1Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. |
| 2The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. | 2The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. |
| 3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically. | 3Saul himself was in the thick of the battle; the archers spotted him and wounded him severely. |
| 4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. | 4Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and stab me with it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture me." But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. |
| 5When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him. | 5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. |
| 6So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day. | 6So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that day. |
| 7When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities. | 7When the men of Israel who were in the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them. |
| 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. | 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. |
| 9They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people. | 9They cut off Saul's head and stripped him of his armor. They sent messengers to announce the news in the temple of their idols and among their people throughout the surrounding land of the Philistines. |
| 10They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan. | 10They placed Saul's armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan. |
| 11When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, | 11When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, |
| 12all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. | 12all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul's corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. |
| 13Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. | 13They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh; then they fasted for seven days. |
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