| New King James Version | New International Version |
| 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. | 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. |
| 2Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. | 2The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. |
| 3The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers. | 3The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. |
| 4Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. | 4Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised 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. |
| 5And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. | 5When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. |
| 6So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day. | 6So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day. |
| 7And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. | 7When 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. |
| 8So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. | 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. |
| 9And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. | 9They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. |
| 10Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. | 10They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. |
| 11Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, | 11When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, |
| 12all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. | 12all their valiant men 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 them. |
| 13Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. | 13Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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