10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before them and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

² And the Philistines followed close after Saul and his sons and overtook them, and the Philistines slew Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

³ And the battle raged about Saul, and the archers found and wounded him.

⁴ Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse and make sport of me. But his armor-bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵ When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died.

⁶ So Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together.

⁷ And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹ They stripped [Saul] and took his head and his armor, and sent [them] round about in Philistia to carry the news to their idols and to the people.

¹⁰ And they put [Saul’s] armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

¹¹ When all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² All the brave men arose, took away the bodies of Saul and his sons, brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh; then they fasted seven days.^(A)

¹³ So Saul died for his trespass against the Lord [in sparing Amalek], for his unfaithfulness in not keeping God’s word, and also for consulting [a medium with] a spirit of the dead to inquire pleadingly of it,

¹⁴ And inquired not so of the Lord [in earnest penitence]. Therefore the Lord slew him and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.^(B)