I Samuel 31

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

²And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

³And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers.

⁴Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.

⁵And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died with him.

⁶So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armorbearer, and all his men, that same day together.

⁷And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

⁹And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto the house of their idols, and to the people.

¹⁰And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

¹³And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

I Samuel 31

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

³When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.

⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.

⁶So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.

⁷When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.

¹⁰They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

¹³Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.