New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
1
Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel went in flight before the Philistines, falling down wounded in Mount Gilboa.
2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, sons of Saul.
2
And the Philistines went hard after Saul and his sons, and put to death Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3 The battle pressed hard on Saul; and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers.
3
And the fight was going against Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised may not come and make sport of me." But his armor-bearer was unwilling, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
4
Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, falling on it himself.
5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died.
5
And when his servant saw that Saul was dead, he did the same, and came to his death.
6 Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together.
6
So death overtook Saul and his three sons; all his family came to an end together.
7 When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled; and the Philistines came and occupied them.
7
And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the men of Israel had gone in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they went in flight away from their towns; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.
8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
8
Now the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his sons dead in Mount Gilboa.
9 They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people.
9
And they took everything off him, and took his head and his war-dress, and sent word into the land of the Philistines round about to give the news to their gods and to the people.
10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
10
And they put his war-dress in the house of their gods, and put up his head in the house of Dagon.
11 But when all Jabesh-gilead heard everything that the Philistines had done to Saul,
11
And when the news came to Jabesh-gilead of what the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all the valiant warriors got up and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
12
All the fighting-men came up and took away Saul's body and the bodies of his sons, and took them to Jabesh, and put their bones to rest under the oak-tree in Jabesh, and took no food for seven days.
13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord; moreover, he had consulted a medium, seeking guidance,
13
So death came to Saul because of the sin which he did against the Lord, that is, because of the word of the Lord which he kept not; and because he went for directions to one who had an evil spirit,
14 and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
14
And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.