Samuel I_Chapter 31

The Philistines fought against the Israelites. The Israelites fled before the Philistines, and some were killed and fell in Gilbo.

The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons closely and killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua.

With great momentum, Saul was chased by archers and suffered severe injuries,

And he commanded the man who carried his weapons, saying, Draw your sword, and pierce me to death, lest those who are uncircumcised come and pierce me, and insult me. But the person who carried the weapon was very afraid and refused to stab him. Saul fell on his sword and died.

The armed man saw that Saul was dead, and he also fell on his sword and died.

So Saul and his three sons, as well as the man who carried his weapons and the people who followed him, all died together.

The Israelites living on the other side of the plain and west of the Jordan River abandoned their city and fled when they saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died. The Philistines came and lived in it.

The next day, the Philistines came to strip the clothes of the person who had been killed and saw Saul and his three sons lying down on Mount Gilbo,

So they cut off his head, stripped him of his military attire, and sent messengers to the four corners of the land of the Philistines to bring news to their idols and all the people in their temples.

And he put Saul’s uniform in the temple of Ashtaroth, and nailed his body to the wall of Bethshan.

The residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

All the brave warriors among them stood up and walked all night. They took the bodies of Saul and his son from the walls of Bethshan and brought them to Jabesh, where they were burned with fire.

Bury their bones under the weeping willow tree in Jabbi and fast for seven days.