Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
The Message Bible MSG
1 And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe.
1
The Philistines made war on Israel. The men of Israel were in full retreat from the Philistines, falling left and right, wounded on Mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua, the sons of Saul.
2
The Philistines caught up with Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, Saul's sons.
3 And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers.
3
The battle was hot and heavy around Saul. The archers got his range and wounded him badly.
4 Then Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And his armourbearer would not: for he was struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.
4
Saul said to his weapon bearer, "Draw your sword and put me out of my misery, lest these pagan pigs come and make a game out of killing me."
5 And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
5
When the weapon bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men that same day together.
6
So Saul, his three sons, and his weapon bearer - the men closest to him - died together that day.
7 And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt there.
7
When the Israelites in the valley opposite and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that their army was in full retreat and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and ran for their lives. The Philistines moved in and occupied the sites.
8 And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe.
8
The next day, when the Philistines came to rob the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.
9 And they cut off Saul’s head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols and among their people.
9
They cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor. Then they spread the good news all through Philistine country in the shrines of their idols and among the people.
10 And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.
10
They displayed his armor in the shrine of the Ashtoreth. They nailed his corpse to the wall at Beth Shan.
11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
11
The people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul.
12 All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there.
12
Their valiant men sprang into action. They traveled all night, took the corpses of Saul and his three sons from the wall at Beth Shan, and carried them back to Jabesh and burned off the flesh.
13 And they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of Jabes: and fasted seven days.
13
They then buried the bones under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted in mourning for seven days.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.