1 Chronicles 10

10 ¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and were cut down on Mount Gilboa.

² The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. ³ The fighting grew fierce around Saul; the archers caught up with him and badly wounded him.

⁴ Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and abuse me." But his armor-bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

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

Israel Flees and Philistines Dishonor the Dead

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

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They stripped him and carried off his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

Jabesh-gilead's Brave Men Honor Their King

¹¹ But when all the people of Jabesh-gilead heard everything the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their brave men set out and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

¹³ So Saul died for the unfaithfulness he committed against our Father: he did not obey the word of our Father, and he even consulted a medium for guidance, ¹⁴ and he did not seek our Father. So our Father put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.