1 Nå kjempet filisterne mot Israel, og mennene fra Israel flyktet for filisterne, og mange falt såret på Gilboa-fjellet.

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 Filisterne innhentet Saul og sønnene hans, og de drepte Jonatan, Abinadab og Malkisjua, Sauls sønner.

And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and they put to death Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

3 Kampen gikk dårlig for Saul, og bueskytterne kom over ham og såret ham.

And the fight was going badly for Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers.

4 Da sa Saul til sin våpenbærer: Trekk sverdet og stikk det gjennom meg, før disse uomskårne mennene kommer og håner meg. Men våpenbæreren, full av frykt, ville ikke gjøre det. Så tok Saul selv et sverd og kastet seg over det.

Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take out 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, and falling on it, put an end to himself.

5 Da våpenbæreren så at Saul var død, gjorde han det samme og døde sammen med ham.

And when his servant saw that Saul was dead, he did the same, and was united with him in death.

6 Så døde Saul, hans tre sønner og våpenbæreren på samme dag.

So death overtook Saul and his three sons and his servant on the same day.

7 Da mennene av Israel på den andre siden av dalen og Jordan så at Israels hær flyktet og at Saul og sønnene hans var døde, forlot de byene sine og flyktet, og filisterne kom og tok dem.

And when the men of Israel across the valley and on the other side of Jordan saw that the army of Israel was in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they came out of their towns and went in flight; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.

8 Dagen etter, da filisterne kom for å plyndre de døde, fant de Saul og hans tre sønner døde på Gilboa-fjellet.

Now on the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his three sons dead on the earth in Mount Gilboa.

9 De kuttet av hodet hans og tok bort hans rustning; de sendte budskapet rundt i filisternes land for å bringe nyheten til deres guder og folket.

And cutting off his head and taking away his war-dress, they sent word into the land of the Philistines round about, to take the news to their gods and to the people.

10 Hans rustning plasserte de i Astartes hus, og kroppen hans ble festet på muren i Bet-Sjan.

His war-dress they put in the house of Astarte; and his body was fixed on the wall of Beth-shan.

11 Da folket i Jabesj-Gilead fikk høre hva filisterne hadde gjort med Saul,

And when the people of Jabesh-gilead had news of what the Philistines had done to Saul,

12 sto alle de stridende mennene opp og reiste hele natten, tok Sauls kropp og sønnenes hans kropper ned fra muren i Bet-Sjan; de kom til Jabesh og brente dem der.

All the fighting men got up and, travelling all night, took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and had them burned there.

13 Deres ben la de i jorden under et tre i Jabesh; og i sju dager avsto de fra mat.

And their bones they put in the earth under a tree in Jabesh; and for seven days they took no food.