1 Samuel - The Old Testament

¹ The Philistines gave battle to Israel, and the Israelites, fleeing from the Philistines, fell and were slaughtered on Mount Gilboa.

² The Philistines bore down on Saul and his sons, and they killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul's sons.

³ The fighting grew fiercer round Saul; the archers came upon him, and he was severely wounded

⁴ by the archers. Saul then said to his armour-bearer, 'Draw your sword and run me through with it; I do not want these uncircumcised men to come and make fun of me.' But his armour-bearer was very much afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵ His armour-bearer, seeing that Saul was dead, fell on his sword too and died with him.

⁶ Thus died Saul, his three sons and his armour-bearer, together on the same day.

⁷ When the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan saw that the Israelites had been routed and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. The Philistines then came and occupied them.

⁸ When the Philistines came on the following day to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.

⁹ They cut off his head and, stripping him of his armour, had these carried round the territory of the Philistines to proclaim the good news to their idols and their people.

¹⁰ They put his armour in the temple of Astarte; and his body they fastened to the walls of Beth-Shean.

¹¹ When the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² the warriors all set out and, having marched all night, took the bodies of Saul and his sons off the walls of Beth-Shean; they brought them to Jabesh and burned them there.

¹³ They then took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk of Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.