| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. | 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. |
| 2And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. | 2The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. |
| 3And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers. | 3The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him. |
| 4Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. | 4Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come 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 armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died. | 5When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. |
| 6So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together. | 6So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. |
| 7And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. | 7When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them. |
| 8And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. | 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. |
| 9And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people. | 9They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news among their idols and their people. |
| 10And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. | 10They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung up his head in the temple of Dagon. |
| 11And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, | 11When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, |
| 12They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days. | 12all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. |
| 13So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; | 13Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, |
| 14And inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. | 14and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. |
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