^4 (A)Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan ^(B)came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

³ And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show ^(A)the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of ^(B)Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”

³⁴ and the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of ^(A)Micah.

⁴⁰ And the son of Jonathan was ^(A)Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah.

⁶ And ^(A)Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.”

The Death of Saul

31 ^(A)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain ^(B)on Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down ^(C)Jonathan and ^(D)Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ^3 (E)The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. ^4 (F)Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these ^(G)uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, ^(H)for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword ^(I)and fell upon it. ⁵ And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. ⁶ Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. ⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, ^(J)to carry the good news ^(K)to the house of their idols and to the people. ^10 (L)They put his armor in the temple of ^(M)Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of ^(N)Beth-shan.

¹¹ So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to ^(A)Jezreel.

The Philistines Reject David

29 ^(A)Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at ^(B)Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by ^(C)the spring that is in ^(D)Jezreel.