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.
Saul suicida-se
(1 Sm 31.1-13)
1Os filisteus atacaram e derrotaram as tropas israelitas, as quais fugiram, tendo sido liquidadas no sopé do monte Gilboa. 2Os filisteus foram atrás de Saul e dos seus três filhos e mataram Jónatas, Abinadabe e Malquisua. 3A luta cresceu depois com violência em volta de Saul e os frecheiros conseguiram feri-lo.
4Então ele gritou ao seu escudeiro: “Desembainha a tua espada e atravessa-me com ela, antes que esta gente incircuncisa me mate, gabando-se ainda do que fizeram.” Mas o homem teve medo de fazer tal coisa. Por isso, Saul pegou na sua própria espada e atirou-se sobre ela. 5Nessa altura, o escudeiro, vendo que Saul estava morto, matou-se da mesma forma. 6Foi assim que Saul e os seus três filhos morreram juntos; toda a família foi liquidada.
7Quando os israelitas no vale souberam que as suas tropas tinham sido derrotadas e que Saul e os seus filhos tinham morrido, abandonaram as cidades e fugiram. Os filisteus ocuparam-nas e passaram a viver nelas.
8No dia seguinte, quando os filisteus vieram para despojar os mortos, encontraram os corpos de Saul e dos filhos no monte Gilboa. 9Cortaram a cabeça a Saul, tiraram-lhe as armas e anunciaram-no aos seus deuses e ao seu povo por toda a terra. 10Penduraram as armas nas paredes do templo dos seus deuses e pregaram a cabeça num muro do templo de Dagom.
11Quando o povo de Jabes-Gileade ouviu o que os filisteus tinham feito ao corpo de Saul, 12os seus guerreiros, os mais valentes, voltaram ao campo de batalha e trouxeram o corpo de Saul e dos seus três filhos. Enterraram-no sob um carvalho em Jabes, jejuando depois por sete dias.
13Saul morreu por causa da sua desobediência ao Senhor e por ter consultado uma médium. 14Não buscou o Senhor para que o guiasse. Por isso, o Senhor o matou e deu o reino a David, o filho de Jessé.
