1 Samuel 31:1-7

Christian Standard Bible

The Death of Saul and His Sons

31 The Philistines fought against Israel,^(A) and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa.^{(B) 2} The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ When the battle intensified against Saul,^(C) the archers found him and severely wounded him.^{[a] 4} Then Saul said to his armor-bearer,^(D) “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men^(E) will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.^{(F) 5} When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. ⁶ So on that day, Saul died together with his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men.

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