Saul and His Sons Killed in Battle

31 ^(A)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded ^(B)on Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines ^[a]killed ^(C)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ^3 (D)The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was gravely wounded by the archers. ^4 (E)Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise ^(F)these uncircumcised Philistines will come and pierce me through, and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was unwilling, because he was very fearful. ^(G)So Saul took ^[b]his sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.

⁷ Now when the people of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and settled in them.

⁸ It came about on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them ^[c]throughout the land of the Philistines, ^(H)to bring the good news ^(I)to the house of their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his weapons in the ^[d]temple of ^(J)Ashtaroth, and ^(K)they nailed his body to the wall of ^(L)Beth-shan. ¹¹ Now when ^(M)the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard ^[e]what the Philistines had done to Saul, ^12 (N)all the valiant men got up and walked all night, and they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and ^(O)burned them there. ¹³ And they took their bones and ^(P)buried them under ^(Q)the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and ^(R)fasted for seven days.

David Learns of Saul’s Death

1 Now it came about after ^(A)the death of Saul, when David had returned from ^(B)the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David stayed two days in Ziklag. ² And on the third day, behold, ^(C)a man came from ^[a]Saul’s camp ^(D)with his clothes torn and ^[b]dust on his head. And it happened when he came to David, ^(E)he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. ³ Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ David said to him, “^(F)How did things go? Please tell me.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵ Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ The young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on ^(G)Mount Gilboa, and behold, ^(H)Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen had overtaken him. ⁷ When he looked behind himself, he saw me, and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ Then he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I ^[c]answered him, ‘^(I)I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ And he said to me, ‘Please stand next to me and finish me off, for ^[d]agony has seized me because my ^[e]life still lingers in me.’ ¹⁰ So I stood next to him ^(J)and finished him off, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And ^(K)I took the crown which was on his head and the band which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then ^(L)David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. ¹² And they mourned and wept and ^(M)fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ Then David said to the young man who informed him, “Where are you from?” And he ^[f]answered, “^(N)I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ And David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid ^(O)to reach out with your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ Then David called one of the young men and said, “Come forward, ^[g]put him to death.” ^(P)So he struck him and he died. ¹⁶ And David said to him, “^[h](Q)Your blood is on your head, because ^(R)your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have finished off the Lord’s anointed.’”

David’s Song of Mourning for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ Then David ^(S)sang this song of mourning over Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸ and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the mourning song of the bow; behold, it is written in ^(T)the Book of Jashar.

Peter Says Jesus is The Christ

^18 (A)And it happened that while He was ^(B)praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the ^[a]people say that I am?” ¹⁹ They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “^(C)The ^[b]Christ of God.” ²¹ But He ^[c](D)warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, ^22 (E)saying, “^(F)The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³ And He was saying to them all, “^(G)If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For ^(H)whoever wants to save his ^[d]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[e]life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. ²⁵ For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^(I)loses or forfeits himself? ^26 (J)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels. ²⁷ But I say to you truthfully, ^(K)there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

^28 (L)About eight days after these sayings, He took along ^(M)Peter, John, and James, and ^(N)went up on the mountain ^(O)to pray. ²⁹ And while He was ^(P)praying, the appearance of His face ^(Q)became different, and His clothing became white and ^[f]gleaming. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who, appearing in ^[g]glory, were speaking of His ^(R)departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and his companions ^(S)had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who were standing with Him. ³³ And as ^[h]these two men were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “^(T)Master, it is good that we are here; and ^(U)let’s make three ^[i]tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—^(V)not realizing what he was saying. ³⁴ But while he was saying this, a cloud ^[j]formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And then ^(W)a voice came from the cloud, saying, “^(X)This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” ³⁶ And when the voice ^[k]had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And ^(Y)they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

^37 (Z)On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸ And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only son, ³⁹ and a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. ⁴⁰ And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” ⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And they were all amazed at the ^[l](AA)greatness of God.

^(AB)But while everyone was astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴ “As for you, let these words sink into your ears: ^(AC)for the Son of Man is going to be ^[m]handed over to men.” ⁴⁵ But ^(AD)they ^[n]did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

The Test of Greatness

^46 (AE)Now an argument ^[o]started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, ^(AF)knowing ^[p]what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side, ⁴⁸ and He said to them, “^(AG)Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ^(AH)for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

^49 (AI)John answered and said, “^(AJ)Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; ^(AK)for the one who is not against you is ^[q]for you.”