Ɔhene Saulo Wu
1Afei, Filistifo no bɛtow hyɛɛ Israel so, maa Israelfo no guanee. Wokunkum wɔn mu pii wɔ bepɔw Gilboa so. 2Filistifo no kaa Saulo ne ne mmabarima hyɛe. Wokunkum wɔn mu baasa a wɔne Yonatan, Abinadab ne Malki-Sua. 3Ɔko no ano yɛɛ den twaa Saulo ho hyiae, maa Filistifo agyantowfo no nyaa Saulo piraa no yiye.
4Saulo fi apinisi mu ka kyerɛɛ nʼakodekurafo no se, “Twe wʼafoa, fa wɔ me kum me na Filistifo abosonsomfo yi ammɛto me, angu mʼanim ase.”
Nanso na nʼakodekurafo no suro nti, wanyɛ saa. Enti Saulo twee ɔno ara nʼafoa, de kum ne ho. 5Bere a nʼakodekurafo no huu sɛ Saulo awu no, ɔno nso de nʼafoa kum ne ho. 6Ɛno nti, Saulo ne ne mma mmarima baasa no wuwuu hɔ ara, maa nʼahenni nnidiso no baa awiei.
7Bere a Israelfo a wɔwɔ Yesreel bon no mu no huu sɛ wɔadi wɔn asraafo no so, na Saulo ne ne mmabarima baasa no awuwu no, woguan gyaa wɔn nkurow hɔ. Ɛno nti, Filistifo no kɔfaa wɔn nkurow no.
8Ade kyee a Filistifo no kɔɔ sɛ wɔrekoyiyi atɔfo no ho nneɛma no, wohuu sɛ Saulo ne ne mmabarima no amu gugu bepɔw Gilboa so. 9Enti woyiyii Saulo akode fii ne ho, twaa ne ti. Afei wɔbɔɔ Saulo wu no ho dawuru maa wɔn ahoni ne nnipa a wɔwɔ Filistia nyinaa tee. 10Wɔde nʼakode no guu wɔn anyame no abosonnan mu, na wɔkyekyeree ne ti no fam Dagon asɔredan no fasu ho.
11Nanso Yabes Gileadfo tee nea Filistifo ayɛ Saulo no, 12wɔn akofo kɔfaa Saulo ne ne mmabarima baasa no amu baa Yabes. Na wosiee wɔn amu wɔ odum dua bi a ɛwɔ Yabes ase, na wodii mmuada nnanson.
13Na Saulo wui, efisɛ wanni Awurade nokware. Wanni Awurade ahyɛde so, na mpo, ɔkɔɔ asamanfrɛ 14wɔ bere a anka ɛsɛ sɛ obisa Awurade nkyɛn akwankyerɛ. Ɛno nti, Awurade kum no, de nʼahenni hyɛɛ Yisai babarima Dawid nsa.
Saul Takes His Own Life
1The Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel 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 armed with bows and arrows caught up with him. They shot their arrows at him and wounded him badly.
4Saul spoke to the man who was carrying his armor. He said, “Pull out your sword and stick it through me. If you don’t, these men who aren’t circumcised will come 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. 6Saul and his three sons died. All of them died together.
7All the Israelites who lived in the valley saw that their army had run away. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So the Israelites left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived 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 sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9So they took what they wanted from Saul’s body. They cut off his head and took his armor. Then they sent messengers through the whole land of the Philistines. They announced the news to the statues of their gods. They also announced it among their people. 10They put Saul’s armor in the temple of their gods. They hung up his head in the temple of their god Dagon.
11The people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12So all the brave men of Jabesh Gilead went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried the bones of Saul and his sons under the great tree that was there. They didn’t eat anything for seven days.
13Saul died because he wasn’t faithful to the Lord. He didn’t obey the word of the Lord. He even asked for advice from a person who gets messages from people who have died. 14He didn’t ask the Lord for advice. So the Lord put him to death. He turned the kingdom over to David. David was the son of Jesse.
