1 USamuyeli 31
1 AmaFilisti alwa-ke loIsrayeli; lamadoda akoIsrayeli abaleka phambi kwamaFilisti, awa efile entabeni yeGilibowa.
Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2 AmaFilisti asenamathela kuSawuli lamadodana akhe; amaFilisti abulala uJonathani, loAbinadaba, loMaliki-Shuwa, amadodana kaSawuli.
The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.
3 Lempi yaba nzima kuSawuli, abatshoki bamfica, amadoda edandili; wasesiba lobuhlungu kakhulu ngabatshoki.
When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.
4 USawuli wasesithi kumthwali wezikhali zakhe: Hwatsha inkemba yakho, ungigwaze ngayo, hlezi laba abangasokanga bafike bangigwaze, badlale kubi ngami. Kodwa umthwali wezikhali zakhe kavumanga, ngoba wesaba kakhulu. Ngakho uSawuli wathatha inkemba, waziwisela phezu kwayo.
Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
5 Lapho umthwali wezikhali zakhe ebona ukuthi uSawuli usefile, laye waziwisela phezu kwenkemba yakhe, wafa kanye laye.
When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.
6 Wafa-ke uSawuli lamadodana akhe amathathu lomthwali wezikhali zakhe labo bonke abantu bakhe ngalolosuku ndawonye.
So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.
7 Lapho amadoda akoIsrayeli ayengaphetsheya kwesigodi layengaphetsheya kweJordani ebona ukuthi amadoda akoIsrayeli abalekile, lokuthi uSawuli lamadodana akhe sebefile, atshiya imizi, abaleka; amaFilisti asefika, ahlala kiyo.
When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.
8 Kwasekusithi kusisa lapho amaFilisti efika ukuhlubula ababuleweyo, afica uSawuli lamadodana akhe amathathu bewile entabeni yeGilibowa.
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9 Asequma ikhanda lakhe, ahlubula izikhali zakhe, athumela elizweni lamaFilisti inhlangothi zonke ukumemezela imibiko endlini yezithombe zabo lebantwini.
They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.
10 Abeka izikhali zakhe endlini kaAshitarothi. Abophela isidumbu sakhe emdulini weBeti-Shani.
They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
11 Kwathi abahlali beJabeshi-Gileyadi sebezwile ngalokho amaFilisti akwenze kuSawuli,
When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 asukuma wonke amaqhawe, ahamba ubusuku bonke, athatha isidumbu sikaSawuli lezidumbu zamadodana akhe emdulini weBeti-Shani, eza eJabeshi, azitshisa khona.
all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.
13 Asethatha amathambo abo, awangcwaba ngaphansi kwesihlahla setamarisiki eJabeshi, azila ukudla insuku eziyisikhombisa.
Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.
