1 Samuel 31
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.
Later, the Philistines again fought against the Israelis. The Israelis ran away from them, and (many Israelis were killed/the Philistines killed many Israelis) on Gilboa Mountain.
2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.
The Philistines caught up with Saul and his three sons, and they killed [all three of] his sons, Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua.
3 The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers.
The fighting was very fierce around Saul. When the Philistine (archers/men with bows and arrows) caught up with Saul, they wounded him badly [with their arrows].
4 Then Saul said to his armour bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me!” But his armour bearer would not, for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword and fell on it.
Saul said to the man who was carrying his weapons, “Take out your sword and kill me with it, in order that these heathen Philistines will not be able to thrust their swords into me and make fun of me [while I am dying].” But the man who was carrying Saul’s weapons was terrified, and refused to do that. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. [The sword pierced his body and he died].
5 When his armour bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died with him.
When the man carrying his weapons saw that Saul was dead, he also threw himself on his own sword and died.
6 So Saul died with his three sons, his armour bearer, and all his men that same day together.
So Saul, three of his sons, and the man who carried Saul’s weapons, all died on that same day.
7 When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
When the Israeli people on the north side of the [Jezreel] Valley and on the east side of the Jordan [River] heard that the Israeli army had run away and that Saul and his sons had died, they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and occupied their towns.
8 On the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
The next day, when the Philistines came to take away the weapons of the dead [Israeli soldiers], they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Gilboa Mountain.
9 They cut off his head, stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines all around, to carry the news to the house of their idols and to the people.
They cut off Saul’s head and took his weapons. Then they sent messengers throughout their land, to proclaim the news, in the temple where they kept their idols, and to the other people, [that their army had killed Saul].
10 They put his armour in the house of the Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
They put Saul’s weapons in the temple of [their goddess] Astarte. They also fastened the bodies of Saul [and his sons] to the wall [that surrounded] Beth-Shan [city].
11 When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
When the people who lived in Jabesh in [the] Gilead [region] heard what the Philistines had done to Saul’s corpse,
12 all the valiant men arose, went 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 burnt them there.
all their bravest soldiers walked all night to Beth-Shan. They took the corpses of Saul and his sons down from the city wall, and they took them back to Jabesh and burned the corpses there.
13 They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
They took the bones and buried them under a [big] tamarisk tree. Then they (fasted/abstained from eating food) for seven days.
