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 wounded by the archers.

⁴ 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 entire household together.

⁷ When all the Israelites who were in the valley 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 sons lying on Mount Gilboa.

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

¹⁰ They placed his armour in the temple of their gods and nailed his head up in the temple of Dagon.

¹¹ When all the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead heard everything that the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² the warriors all set out and took the bodies of Saul and his sons away; they brought them to Jabesh and buried their bones under the tamarisk of Jabesh and fasted for seven days.

¹³ Thus died Saul in the infidelity of which he had been guilty towards Yahweh, in that he had not obeyed the word of Yahweh and because he had consulted a necromancer for guidance.

¹⁴ He had not consulted Yahweh, who therefore caused his death and transferred the monarchy to David son of Jesse.