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.
1 Samuel 31
Nuova Riveduta 2006
from Società Biblica di Ginevra
Gli Israeliti sconfitti dai Filistei; morte di Saul e di Gionatan
1I Filistei diedero battaglia a Israele, e gli Israeliti fuggirono davanti ai Filistei e caddero morti in gran numero sul monte Ghilboa.2I Filistei inseguirono accanitamente Saul e i suoi figli e uccisero Gionatan, Abinadab e Malchisua, figli di Saul.3Il peso della battaglia gravò contro Saul; gli arcieri lo raggiunsero ed egli si trovò in grande difficoltà a motivo degli arcieri.4Saul disse al suo scudiero: «Sfodera la spada e trafiggimi, affinché questi incirconcisi non vengano a trafiggermi e a farmi oltraggio». Ma lo scudiero non volle farlo, perché aveva paura. Allora Saul prese la propria spada e vi si gettò sopra.5Lo scudiero di Saul, vedendolo morto, si gettò anch’egli sulla propria spada e morì con lui.6Così, in quel giorno, morirono insieme Saul, i suoi tre figli, il suo scudiero e tutta la sua gente.7Quando gli Israeliti che stavano dall’altra parte della valle e di là dal Giordano videro che la gente d’Israele si era data alla fuga e che Saul e i suoi figli erano morti, abbandonarono le città e fuggirono; e i Filistei andarono ad abitarle.8L’indomani i Filistei vennero a spogliare i morti e trovarono Saul e i suoi tre figli caduti sul monte Ghilboa.9Tagliarono la testa a Saul, lo spogliarono delle sue armi e mandarono intorno, per il paese dei Filistei, ad annunciare la buona notizia nei templi dei loro idoli e al popolo;10collocarono le armi di lui nel tempio di Astarte e appesero il suo cadavere alle mura di Bet-San.11Ma quando gli abitanti di Iabes di Galaad udirono quello che i Filistei avevano fatto a Saul,12tutti gli uomini valorosi si alzarono, camminarono tutta la notte, tolsero dalle mura di Bet-San il cadavere di Saul e i cadaveri dei suoi figli, tornarono a Iabes e là li bruciarono.13Poi presero le loro ossa, le seppellirono sotto la tamerice di Iabes e digiunarono per sette giorni.