| NET Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The Israelites fled before the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. | 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. |
| 2The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. | 2And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. |
| 3The battle was thick around Saul; the archers spotted him and wounded him. | 3The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. |
| 4Saul told his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and stab me with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come and torture me." But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. | 4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. |
| 5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. | 5And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. |
| 6So Saul and his three sons died; his whole household died together. | 6Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. |
| 7When all the Israelites who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them. | 7And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them. |
| 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. | 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. |
| 9They stripped his corpse, and then carried off his head and his armor. They sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines proclaiming the news to their idols and their people. | 9And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. |
| 10They placed his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon. | 10And they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. |
| 11When all the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, | 11But when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, |
| 12all the warriors went and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their remains under the oak tree in Jabesh and fasted for seven days. | 12all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days. |
| 13So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD and did not obey the LORD's instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits. | 13So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. |
| 14He did not seek the LORD's guidance, so the LORD killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse. | 14He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. |
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