1 Samuel 31
1 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,
Later, the Philistines again fought against the Israelis. The Israelis ran away from them, and (many Israelis were killed/the Philistines killed many Israelis) on Gilboa Mountain.
2 and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul.
The Philistines caught up with Saul and his three sons, and they killed [all three of] his sons, Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua.
3 And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him — men with bow — and he is pained greatly by the archers;
The fighting was very fierce around Saul. When the Philistine (archers/men with bows and arrows) caught up with Saul, they wounded him badly [with their arrows].
4 and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, 'Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come — these uncircumcised — and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it.
Saul said to the man who was carrying his weapons, “Take out your sword and kill me with it, in order that these heathen Philistines will not be able to thrust their swords into me and make fun of me [while I am dying].” But the man who was carrying Saul’s weapons was terrified, and refused to do that. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. [The sword pierced his body and he died].
5 And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul [is] dead, and he falleth — he also — on his sword, and dieth with him;
When the man carrying his weapons saw that Saul was dead, he also threw himself on his own sword and died.
6 and Saul dieth, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together.
So Saul, three of his sons, and the man who carried Saul’s weapons, all died on that same day.
7 And they see — the men of Israel, who [are] beyond the valley, and who [are] beyond the Jordan — that the men of Israel have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake the cities and flee, and Philistines come in, and dwell in them.
When the Israeli people on the north side of the [Jezreel] Valley and on the east side of the Jordan [River] heard that the Israeli army had run away and that Saul and his sons had died, they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and occupied their towns.
8 And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and they find Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa,
The next day, when the Philistines came to take away the weapons of the dead [Israeli soldiers], they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Gilboa Mountain.
9 and they cut off his head, and strip off his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about, to proclaim tidings [in] the house of their idols, and [among] the people;
They cut off Saul’s head and took his weapons. Then they sent messengers throughout their land, to proclaim the news, in the temple where they kept their idols, and to the other people, [that their army had killed Saul].
10 and they place his weapons [in] the house of Ashtaroth, and his body they have fixed on the wall of Beth-Shan.
They put Saul’s weapons in the temple of [their goddess] Astarte. They also fastened the bodies of Saul [and his sons] to the wall [that surrounded] Beth-Shan [city].
11 And they hear regarding it — the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead — that which the Philistines have done to Saul,
When the people who lived in Jabesh in [the] Gilead [region] heard what the Philistines had done to Saul’s corpse,
12 and all the men of valour arise, and go all the night, and take the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-Shan, and come in to Jabesh, and burn them there,
all their bravest soldiers walked all night to Beth-Shan. They took the corpses of Saul and his sons down from the city wall, and they took them back to Jabesh and burned the corpses there.
13 and they take their bones, and bury [them] under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and fast seven days.
They took the bones and buried them under a [big] tamarisk tree. Then they (fasted/abstained from eating food) for seven days.
