1 Samuel

31 And the Philistines fought the Israelites, and the men of Israel ran before the Philistines, and fell stabbed through on Mount Gilboaʽ. 2 And the Philistines kept close after Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Saul’s sons Jonathan and Abinadab and Malk-Shuaʽ. 3 And the onslaught on Saul was fierce, and the shooters (bowmen) hit him, and he was badly hurt by the shooters. 4 And Saul said to his squire “Draw your sword and run me through with it, for fear those uncircumcised fellows should come and amuse themselves with me”; but his squire would not, because he was too much afraid. But Saul took his sword and threw himself on it; 5 and his squire saw that Saul was dead, and he too threw himself on his own sword and died with him. 6 And Saul and his three sons and his squire died on that day. 7* And the men of Israel on the other side of the Vale and of the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, and they left their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in the cities.

8 And on the next day the Philistines came to strip the killed, and found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboaʽ. 9 And they cut off his head and stripped off his equipment and sent them around through the Philistine country to bring the news to their idols and the people, 10 and put his equipment in the temple of ʽAshtart; and his body they pegged to the wall of Beth-Shan.

11 And Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul; 12 and all the bravest men set out and made an all-night march and took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-Shan and brought them to Jabesh and burned them there, 13 and took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.