1 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.footnote a

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

3And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.footnote bfootnote c

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

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

6So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, 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 on the other side 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 armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.

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

11And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;footnote e

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 came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

13And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

Saul’s Overthrow and Death

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

2The Philistines hotly pursued 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 me through with it, 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.

The Philistines Possess the Towns

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.

Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul

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.