CHAPTER 10
Now the Philistines
fought
against Israel,
and the Israelites
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 torture me!”
But his armor-bearer
refused,
because
he was terrified.
So Saul
took
his own sword
and fell
on it.
When all
the Israelites
in the valley
saw
that
the army 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 sons
fallen
on Mount
Gilboa.
They stripped Saul,
cut off his head,
took
his armor,
and sent
messengers throughout the land
of the Philistines
to proclaim the news
in the temple of their idols
and among their people.
all
their valiant warriors
set out
and retrieved
the bodies
of Saul
and
his sons
and brought
them to Jabesh.
And they buried
their bones
under
the oak
in Jabesh
and fasted
seven
days.
So Saul
died
for his unfaithfulness
to the LORD,
because
he did not
keep
the word
of the LORD
and even
consulted
a medium
for guidance,
and he failed
to inquire
of the LORD.
So the LORD put him to death
and turned the kingdom
over
to David
son
of Jesse.