1 Samuel 31

¹Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

²And the Philistines pressed hard upon Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, sons of Saul.

³The battle grew heavy against Saul, and the archers, men with bows, found him; and he was badly wounded by the archers.

⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, 'Draw your sword and run me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and run me through and abuse me.' But his armor-bearer was not willing, for he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell upon it.

⁵And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.

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

⁷And the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, and they abandoned the cities and fled, and the Philistines came and settled in them.

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

⁹And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines all around to proclaim the news in the house of their idols and among the people.

¹⁰They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shean.

¹¹And the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul.

¹²All the valiant men arose and walked all night long and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shean, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

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