от Veren1А филистимците се биха срещу Израил и израилевите мъже побягнаха отпред филистимците и паднаха убити на хълма Гелвуе.2И филистимците настигнаха Саул и синовете му; и филистимците убиха Йонатан, Авинадав и Мелхисуя, синовете на Саул.3И битката срещу Саул се засилваше и стрелците и мъжете с лъкове го улучиха, и той беше тежко ранен[1] от стрелците.4Тогава Саул каза на оръженосеца си: Изтегли меча си и ме прободи с него, за да не дойдат тези необрязани и да ме прободат, и да се гаврят с мен! Но оръженосецът му не искаше, защото много се страхуваше. Тогава Саул взе меча и се хвърли върху него.5И когато оръженосецът му видя, че Саул беше мъртъв, той също се хвърли върху меча си и умря с него.6Така умряха Саул и тримата му сина, и оръженосецът му, и всичките му мъже в същия онзи ден.7А когато израилевите мъже, които бяха оттатък долината и оттатък Йордан, видяха, че израилевите мъже бяха побягнали и че Саул и синовете му бяха мъртви, те напуснаха градовете и избягаха. И филистимците дойдоха и се заселиха в тях.8А на следващия ден филистимците дойдоха да съблекат убитите и намериха Саул и тримата му сина паднали на хълма Гелвуе.9И отсякоха главата му и свалиха оръжията му, и разпратиха по цялата филистимска земя да разгласят вестта в капището на идолите си и между народа.10И сложиха оръжията му в храма на Астарта, а тялото му окачиха на стената на Ветсан.11А когато жителите на Явис-Галаад чуха какво бяха направили филистимците със Саул,12всичките храбри мъже станаха и вървяха цялата нощ, и взеха тялото на Саул и телата на синовете му от стената на Ветсан, и дойдоха в Явис, и ги изгориха там.13После взеха костите им и ги погребаха под вечнозеленото дърво в Явис, и постиха седем дни.
1The Philistines fought against the Israelites. The Israelites ran away from them. But many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa.2The Philistines kept chasing Saul and his sons. They killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.3The fighting was heavy around Saul. Men who were armed with bows and arrows caught up with him. They shot their arrows at him and wounded him badly.4Saul spoke to the man carrying his armour. He said, ‘Pull out your sword. Stick it through me. If you don’t, these fellows who aren’t circumcised will come. They’ll stick their swords through me and hurt me badly.’ But the man was terrified. He wouldn’t do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.5The man saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died with him.6Saul and his three sons died together that same day. The man who carried his armour also died with them that day. So did all of Saul’s men.7The Israelites who lived along the valley saw that their army had run away. So did those who lived across the River Jordan. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and made their homes in them.8The day after the Philistines had won the battle, they came to take what they wanted from the dead bodies. They found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.9So they cut off Saul’s head. They took his armour from his body. Then they sent messengers through the whole land of the Philistines. They announced the news in the temple where they had set up statues of their gods. They also announced it among their people.10They put Saul’s armour in the temple where they had set up statues of female gods that were named Ashtoreth. They hung his body up on the wall of Beth Shan.11The people of Jabesh Gilead heard about what the Philistines had done to Saul.12So all their brave men marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan. They brought them to Jabesh. There they burned them.13Then they got the bones of Saul and his sons and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh. They didn’t eat anything for seven days.