撒母耳記上31:1-13

 

31:1 非利士人與以色列人爭戰。以色列人在非利士人面前逃跑，在基利波有被殺仆倒的。
31:2 非利士人緊追掃羅和他兒子們，就殺了掃羅的兒子約拿單、亞比拿達、麥基舒亞。
31:3 勢派甚大，掃羅被弓箭手追上，射傷甚重，
31:4 就吩咐拿他兵器的人說：「你拔出刀來，將我刺死，免得那些未受割禮的人來刺我，凌辱我。」但拿兵器的人甚懼怕，不肯刺他；掃羅就自己伏在刀上死了。
31:5 拿兵器的人見掃羅已死，也伏在刀上死了。
31:6 這樣，掃羅和他三個兒子，與拿他兵器的人，以及跟隨他的人，都一同死亡。
31:7 住平原那邊並約旦河西的以色列人，見以色列軍兵逃跑，掃羅和他兒子都死了，也就棄城逃跑。非利士人便來住在其中。
31:8 次日，非利士人來剝那被殺之人的衣服，看見掃羅和他三個兒子仆倒在基利波山，
31:9 就割下他的首級，剝了他的軍裝，打發人到（或譯：送到）非利士地的四境，報信與他們廟裡的偶像和眾民；
31:10 又將掃羅的軍裝放在亞斯她錄廟裡，將他的屍身釘在伯‧珊的城牆上。
31:11 基列‧雅比的居民聽見非利士人向掃羅所行的事，
31:12 他們中間所有的勇士就起身，走了一夜，將掃羅和他兒子的屍身從伯‧珊城牆上取下來，送到雅比那裡，用火燒了；
31:13 將他們骸骨葬在雅比的垂絲柳樹下，就禁食七日。

 

Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ³ The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.

⁴ Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”

But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

⁷ When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. ¹⁰ They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹ When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their valiant men marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. ¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

 

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    上帝透過非利士人將掃羅一家人的男丁幾乎殺死，不僅如此屍體還被帶到各個神廟去，讓然感覺這是以色列人的羞辱！

 

    還好基列‧雅比的勇士將掃羅漢他的兒子的屍體搶回來葬在以色列，將這樣的恥辱洗清！

 

    掃羅這樣的下場也讓我們看見上帝的正義，他真的要替大衛伸冤，因為上帝不會忘記合祂心意的人！

 

    掃羅敗亡，新的時代帶將要起來了！