1 Chronicles 10

The Deaths of Saul and His Sons

10The Philistines ^lfought against Israel, and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa. ²The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him. ⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer wouldn’t do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died. ⁶So Saul and his three sons died—his whole house died together.

⁷When all the men of Israel in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

⁸The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news to their idols and their people. ¹⁰Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his skull in the temple of Dagon. ^m

¹¹When all Jabesh-gilead heard of everything the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all their brave men set out and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the oak ⁿin Jabesh ^oand fasted seven days.

¹³Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord because he did not keep the Lord’s word. ^pHe even consulted a medium for guidance, ^q14but he did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. ^r