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31 And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe.

And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they slew Jonathan, and Abinadab and Melchisua the sons of Saul.

And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers.

Then Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And his armourbearer would not: for he was struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.

And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men that same day together.

And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came, and dwelt there.

And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe.

And they cut off Saul's head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols, and among their people.

10 And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.

11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

12 All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there:

13 And they took their bones and buried them in the wood of Jabes: and fasted seven days.

Saul Takes His Life(A)

31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa.(B) The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons,(C) and they killed his sons Jonathan,(D) Abinadab and Malki-Shua.(E) The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded(F) him critically.

Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through,(G) or these uncircumcised(H) fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”

But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died(I) together that same day.

When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

The next day, when the Philistines(J) came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news(K) in the temple of their idols and among their people.(L) 10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths(M) and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.(N)

11 When the people of Jabesh Gilead(O) heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their valiant men(P) marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned(Q) them. 13 Then they took their bones(R) and buried them under a tamarisk(S) tree at Jabesh, and they fasted(T) seven days.(U)