1 Chronicles 10
Complete Jewish Bible
10 Now the P’lishtim pressed their attack on Isra’el; and the men of Isra’el fled before the P’lishtim, leaving their dead on Mount Gilboa. 2 The P’lishtim pursued Sha’ul; overtook him and his sons; and the P’lishtim killed Y’honatan, Avinadav and Malkishua, the sons of Sha’ul. 3 The fighting went hard against Sha’ul; then the archers overtook and wounded him, so that he was in agony. 4 Sha’ul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it. Otherwise, these uncircumcised men will come and make sport of me.” But his armor-bearer refused; he was too frightened. So Sha’ul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor-bearer saw that Sha’ul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died. 6 Thus Sha’ul, his three sons and all his household died together.
7 When all the men of Isra’el who were in the valley saw them fleeing and that Sha’ul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled; then the P’lishtim came and lived in them.
8 The following day, when the P’lishtim came to strip the dead, they found Sha’ul and his sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped him, then took his head and his armor and sent them all over the territory of the P’lishtim to carry the news to their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his skull to the temple of Dagon. 11 When everyone in Yavesh-Gil‘ad heard all that the P’lishtim had done to Sha’ul, 12 all their warriors set out, took away the body of Sha’ul and the bodies of his sons, brought them to Yavesh, buried their bones under the pistachio tree in Yavesh and fasted seven days.
13 So Sha’ul died for the transgression he committed against Adonai, because of the word of Adonai that he did not keep and because he sought the counsel of a spirit 14 instead of consulting Adonai. Therefore Adonai put him to death and turned the rulership over to David the son of Yishai.
1 Chronicles 10
Contemporary English Version
King Saul and His Sons Die
(1 Samuel 31.1-13)
10 The Philistines fought against Israel in a battle at Mount Gilboa. Israel's soldiers ran from the Philistines, and many of them were killed. 2 The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons and killed three of them: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was fierce around Saul, and he was badly wounded by enemy arrows.
4 Saul told the soldier who carried his weapons, “Kill me with your sword! I don't want those godless Philistines to torture and make fun of me.”
But the soldier was afraid to kill him. Then Saul stuck himself in the stomach with his own sword and fell on the blade. 5 When the soldier realized that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way.
6 Saul, three of his sons, and all his male relatives were dead. 7 The Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley[a] learned that their army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. They ran away too, and the Philistines moved into the towns the Israelites left behind.
8 The next day the Philistines came back to the battlefield to carry away the weapons of the dead Israelite soldiers. When they found the bodies of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa, 9 they took Saul's weapons, pulled off his armor, and cut off his head. Then they sent messengers everywhere in Philistia to spread the news among their people and to thank the idols of their gods. 10 They put Saul's armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon.
11 When the people who lived in Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 some brave men went to get his body and the bodies of his three sons. The men brought the bodies back to Jabesh, where they buried them under an oak tree. Then for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.
13 (A) Saul died because he was unfaithful and disobeyed the Lord. He even asked advice from a woman who talked to spirits of the dead, 14 instead of asking the Lord. So the Lord had Saul killed and gave his kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.
Footnotes
- 10.7 Jezreel Valley: Hebrew “the valley.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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