1 Chronicles 10

1Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.footnote a

2And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.footnote b

3And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.footnote cfootnote d

4Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.footnote e

5And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.

6So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.

7And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

8And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

9And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.

10And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

11And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

12They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

13So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;footnote f

14And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.footnote g

Saul’s Overthrow and Death

1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

2The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and 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 was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

5When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died. 6So Saul died together with his three sons and all his house.

The Philistines Possess the Towns

7When 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 their cities.

8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9They 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. 10They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.

Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul

11When all the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all their men of valor set out and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oakfootnote a in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

13So 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, 14and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.