1 Samuel 31 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Chapter 31[a]

The Death of Saul. 1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the Israelites fled before the Philistines, and many were killed at Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pressed hard upon Saul and his sons. His sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua were killed by the Philistines.

3 There was fierce fighting around Saul, and when the archers found their mark, they seriously wounded him. 4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust it through me, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me.” But the armor-bearer would not do this for he was terrified. Saul, therefore, took his sword and fell upon it. 5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he, too, fell upon his sword and died with him.

6 So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all of his men died together on the same day. 7 When the Israelites on the other side of the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the Israelites had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities, and the Philistines came and occupied them.

8 The next day the Philistines came out to strip the dead, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his armor. They sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of Astartes, and they fastened his body to the wall in Beth-shan.

11 Saul Is Buried.[b] When those living in Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all of their brave men traveled during the night and took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. They went to Jabesh where they cremated them. 13 They took their bones and they buried them under a tree in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.[c]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 31:1 2 Sam 1:5-10 gives a slightly different version.
  2. 1 Samuel 31:11 Saul had rescued Jabesh (1 Sam 11:1-11). Cremation was forbidden, but is justified here because the decomposition of the corpses was far advanced. This is the only instance of cremation in the Bible.
  3. 1 Samuel 31:13 The death of Saul exposed a bitter truth to the people, who believed that a king would bring them power and prestige. They now knew that having a bad king was far worse than having no king.

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1 Samuel 31 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

31 And the Philistines are fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa, 2 and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul. 3 And the battle is hard ...
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1 Samuel 31 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

31 Forsooth the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the face of Philistines, and they fell down slain in the hill of Gilboa. (Then the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines, and they fell down dead on Mount Gilboa.) 2 And ...
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1 Samuel 31 - World English Bible (WEB)

31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle went hard against S...
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1 Samuel 31 - The Voice (VOICE)

31 Meanwhile the Philistine and Israelite armies had clashed. The men of Israel ran away, but many of them were killed on the heights of Gilboa. 2 The Philistines even followed Saul and his sons and closed in on them; there they killed his sons, Jonathan (the beloved friend of David), Abinadab, and...
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1 Samuel 31 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Saul Killed on Mt. Gilboa31 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. Israel’s men fled before the Philistines and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3...
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1 Samuel 31 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Death of Saul and His Sons31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilbo′a. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abin′adab and Mal′chishu′a, the sons of Saul. 3 Th...
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1 Samuel 31 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Death of Saul and His Sons31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilbo′a. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abin′adab and Mal′chishu′a, the sons of Saul. 3 Th...
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1 Samuel 31 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

The Death of Saul and His Sons31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and many fell[a] on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3 The ba...
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1 Samuel 31 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Death of Saul and His Sons31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and many fell[a] on Mount Gilboa.(A)2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3 The ba...
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1 Samuel 31 - New Living Translation (NLT)

The Death of Saul31 Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua. 3 The fighting grew very fierce...
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1 Samuel 31 - New Life Version (NLV)

Saul Kills Himself31 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. And the men of Israel ran from the Philistines and were killed and fell on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines came after Saul and his sons. They killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua. 3 The battle went against Saul....
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1 Samuel 31 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Tragic End of Saul and His Sons(A)31 Now (B)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount (C)Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed (D)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malch...
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1 Samuel 31 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Saul takes his life31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and ...
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1 Samuel 31 - New International Version (NIV)

Saul Takes His Life(A)31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa.(B) 2 The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons,(C) and they killed his sons Jonathan,(D) Abinadab and Malki-Shua.(E) 3 The fighting grew fierce arou...
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1 Samuel 31 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Saul Takes His Own Life31 The Philistines fought against the Israelites. The Israelites ran away from them. But many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines kept chasing Saul and his sons. They killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Sau...
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1 Samuel 31 - New English Translation (NET)

The Death of Saul31 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines stayed right on the heels[a] of Saul and his sons. They[b] struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 3 S...
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