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The Death of Saul and His Sons

10 (A)Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and [a](B)Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. And the battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers [b]hit him; and he was wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was not willing, for he was greatly afraid. (C)So Saul took his sword and fell on it. Then his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, so he also fell on his sword and died. (D)Thus Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.

Then all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

Now it happened on the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. (E)So they stripped him and took his head and his weapons and sent them all around the land of the Philistines, to proclaim the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 And they placed his weapons in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.

Jabesh-gilead Buries Saul

11 Then all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 (F)so all the valiant men arose and took away 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.

13 (G)Thus Saul died for his unfaithfulness, which he committed against Yahweh, because of the word of Yahweh which he did not keep; and also (H)because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, 14 and did not inquire of Yahweh. Therefore He put him to death and (I)turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 10:2 In 1 Sam 14:49, Ishvi
  2. 1 Chronicles 10:3 Lit found him

The Deaths of Saul and His Sons

10 The Philistines(A) fought against Israel, and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer wouldn’t do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died. So Saul and his three sons died—his whole house died together.

When all the men of Israel in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news to their idols and their people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his skull in the temple of Dagon.(B)

11 When all Jabesh-gilead heard of everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their brave men set out and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the oak[a] in Jabesh(C) and fasted seven days.

13 Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord because he did not keep the Lord’s word.(D) He even consulted a medium for guidance,(E) 14 but he did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.(F)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 10:12 Or terebinth, or large tree