| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The Israelites fled before the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. | 1The Philistines were fighting against Israel, and each soldier of Israel fled before the Philistines. They fell slain on the mountain of Gilboa. |
| 2The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. | 2The Philistines followed after Saul and after his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul's sons. |
| 3The battle was thick around Saul; the archers spotted him and wounded him. | 3The heaviest fighting was against Saul, and when the archers who were shooting located Saul, he was gravely wounded by them. |
| 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. | 4Saul ordered his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised people will come and abuse me." But his armor bearer did not want to do it because he was very frightened, so Saul took the sword and fell on it. |
| 5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. | 5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. |
| 6So Saul and his three sons died; his whole household died together. | 6Therefore Saul, his three sons, and all his entire household 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. | 7When that part of the army of Israel that was in the valley saw that the rest of the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied 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 Philistines came to strip the dead the next day, and they found Saul dead on Gilboa mountain, along with his sons. |
| 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. | 9They stripped him, took his head and armor, and sent messengers throughout the territory of the Philistines to report the 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. | 10Then they put Saul's armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his skull to the wall of the temple of Dagon. |
| 11When all the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, | 11When all the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard everything 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. | 12every valiant soldier got up, removed the bodies of Saul and his sons, took them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Then they fasted for 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 transgressions; that is, he acted unfaithfully to the LORD by transgressing the message from the LORD (which he did not keep), by consulting a medium for advice, |
| 14He did not seek the LORD's guidance, so the LORD killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse. | 14and by not seeking counsel from the LORD, who therefore put him to death and turned the kingdom over to Jesse's son David. |
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