^4 (A)Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came ^(B)from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was ^(C)Mephibosheth.^[a]

³ Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show ^(A)the kindness of God?”

And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is ^(B)lame in his feet.”

³⁴ The son of Jonathan was ^[a]Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot ^(A)Micah.

⁴⁰ The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah.

⁶ Now when ^(A)Mephibosheth^[a] the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

The Tragic End of Saul and His Sons^(A)

31 Now ^(B)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount ^(C)Gilboa. ² Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed ^(D)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ^3 (E)The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers ^[a]hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.

^4 (F)Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest ^(G)these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and ^[b]abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, ^(H)for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and ^(I)fell on it. ⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.

⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. ⁸ So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to ^(J)proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. ^10 (K)Then they put his armor in the temple of the ^(L)Ashtoreths, and ^(M)they fastened his body to the wall of ^(N)Beth^[c] Shan.

¹¹ So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. ^(A)And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

The Philistines Reject David

29 Then ^(A)the Philistines gathered together all their armies ^(B)at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel.