The Death of Saul
1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons closely, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. 4Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, so that these uncircumcised men do not come and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. 6So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together. 7When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled, and the Philistines came and settled in them. 8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9They stripped him and carried off his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news to their idols and to the people. 10They put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his skull in the temple of Dagon. 11When all Jabesh-gilead heard everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all the warriors rose up, took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh; and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days. 13So Saul died for his unfaithfulness, which he committed against Yahweh, because of the word of Yahweh that he did not keep, and also because he consulted a medium to seek guidance, 14and did not seek guidance from Yahweh. So he put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
