CHAPTER 31
Now the Philistines
fought
against Israel,
and the men
of Israel
fled
before
them,
and many fell
slain
on Mount
Gilboa.
The Philistines
followed hard after
Saul
and his sons,
and they killed
Saul’s
sons
Jonathan,
Abinadab,
and Malchishua.
Then Saul
said
to his armor-bearer,
“Draw
your sword
and run it through me,
or
these
uncircumcised men
will come
and run me through
and torture
me!”
But the armor-bearer
refused,
because
he was terrified.
So Saul
took
his own sword
and fell
on it.
When the Israelites
along
the valley
and those on the other side
of the Jordan
saw
that
the army
of Israel
had fled
and that
Saul
and his sons
had died,
they abandoned
their cities
and ran away.
So the Philistines
came
and occupied
them.
The next day,
when the Philistines
came
to strip
the dead,
they found
Saul
and his three
sons
fallen
on Mount
Gilboa.
They cut off
Saul’s head,
stripped off
his armor,
and sent
messengers throughout the land
of the Philistines
to proclaim the news
in the temples
of their idols
and among their people.
all
their valiant warriors
set out,
journeyed
all
night,
and retrieved
the bodies
of Saul
and
his sons
from the wall
of
Beth-shan.
When they arrived
at Jabesh,
they burned
the bodies there.
Then they took
their bones
and buried
them under
the tamarisk tree
in Jabesh,
and they fasted
seven
days.