The Death of Saul
1
1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain 2on Mount Gilboa.
2
And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down 3Jonathan and 4Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3
5The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
4
6Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these 7uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me." But his armor-bearer would not, 8for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword 9and fell upon it.
5
And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
6
Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
7
And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
8
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9
So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, 10to carry the good news 11to the house of their idols and to the people.
10
12They put his armor in the temple of 13Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of 14Beth-shan.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)