Back to BooksSimple English

1 Samuel

Tells about Samuel, the last judge, and the beginning of Israel's monarchy with King Saul and young David.

Chapter 31

Back to Chapters

1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

*Now, the Philistines fought with Israel. The Israeli men ran away from the Philistines and died on Mount Gilboa.

2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons.

*The Philistines chased Saul and his sons closely, and they killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua, who were Saul's sons.

3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

*The fight was tough on Saul, and the arrow shooters hit him; he got badly hurt from the arrow shooters.

4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

*Then Saul told his sword-carrier, "Take your sword and stab me with it. Otherwise, these uncut men might stab me, embarrass me, and hurt me." But the sword-carrier didn't do it because he was very scared. So, Saul got a sword and committed suicide by using it.

5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.

*When the armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell onto 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.

*Saul and his three sons, his armor bearer, and everyone with him all passed away on that very day.

7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

*When the Israelites on one side of the valley and those across the Jordan river saw the Israelites running away and Saul and his sons dead, they abandoned the towns and ran too. The Philistines then took over and lived in those towns.

8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

*The next day, when the Philistines arrived to take possessions from the dead, they discovered Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.

9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.

*They beheaded him, took his armor, and sent the news throughout Philistine territory, announcing it in the temples of their false gods and to the people.

10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

*They placed his armor in Ashtaroth's home, and hung his body on Bethshan's wall.

11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

*When the people living in Jabeshgilead heard about what the Philistines did to Saul,

12 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

*Brave warriors got up, stayed awake all night, and got Saul's and his sons' bodies off the wall of Bethshan. They then took them to Jabesh and burned them there.

13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

*They collected the bones, buried them near a tree in Jabesh, and didn't eat for a week.

Back to Chapters

* work in progress, there will be mistakes

Copyright © 2025 - Gema369 All Rights Reserved