1 Samuel 31

¹ Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

² And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.

³ The battle was heavy against Saul; and the shooting of the archers found him, and he was writhing with exceeding pain from the shooting of the archers.

⁴ And Saul said to his armorbearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it.

⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul had died, 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 day.

⁷ And when the men of Israel on the other side of the valley, and those on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, 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 proclaim it in the house of their idols and among the people.

¹⁰ And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹ And when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² all the valiant men rose up and traveled all night, and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

¹³ And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.