| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 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 the Philistines and many of them 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 stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. |
| 3The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. | 3The battle was thick around Saul; the archers spotted him and wounded him. |
| 4Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. | 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. |
| 5And when his armorbearer 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, and all his house died together. | 6So Saul and his three sons died; his whole household died together. |
| 7And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them. | 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. |
| 8So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. | 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. |
| 9And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. | 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. |
| 10Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. | 10They placed his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon. |
| 11And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, | 11When all the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, |
| 12all the valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. | 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. |
| 13So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. | 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. |
| 14But he did not inquire of the LORD; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. | 14He did not seek the LORD's guidance, so the LORD killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse. |
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