| Holman Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel's men fled from them. Many were killed on Mount Gilboa. | 1Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. |
| 2The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons and killed his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. | 2The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. |
| 3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers caught up with him and severely wounded him. | 3Saul himself was in the thick of the battle; the archers spotted him and wounded him severely. |
| 4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me." But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it. | 4Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and stab me with it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture me." But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. |
| 5When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. | 5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. |
| 6So on that day, Saul died together with his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men. | 6So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that day. |
| 7When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel's men had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them. | 7When the men of Israel who were in the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them. |
| 8The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. | 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. |
| 9They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people. | 9They cut off Saul's head and stripped him of his armor. They sent messengers to announce the news in the temple of their idols and among their people throughout the surrounding land of the Philistines. |
| 10Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan. | 10They placed Saul's armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan. |
| 11When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, | 11When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, |
| 12all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. | 12all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul's corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. |
| 13Afterward, they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days. | 13They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh; then they fasted for seven days. |
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