1 Samuel 31

The Fall of Saul

1 The Philistines went hard against Israel. Israel’s soldiers ran, and many got dropped on Mount Gilboa.

2 The Philistines stayed pressing. They killed Saul’s sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua.

3 The fight closed in on Saul. Archers hit him with arrows, and he was hurt bad.

4 Saul told his armor-bearer, “Pull your sword and end me now, before these uncircumcised punks come finish me dirty.” But the armor-bearer froze up, scared to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

5 When the armor-bearer saw Saul was dead, he did the same, fell on his own sword and died with him.

6 So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died that same day, right there on the mountain.

Israel Runs, Philistines Take Over

7 When the Israelites on the other side of the valley saw the army fall and Saul dead, they bounced from their cities. The Philistines moved in and took over.

Saul Gets Stripped and Shamed

8 The next day, the Philistines came back to strip the dead. They found Saul and his sons laid out on Mount Gilboa.

9 They cut off Saul’s head, took his gear, and sent messengers across Philistine land to brag in their temples and to their people.

10 They put Saul’s armor in the temple of their false gods, and they nailed his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

Jabesh-gilead Shows Respect

11 But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines did to Saul,

12 Their bravest men rolled out at night, snatched Saul’s body and his sons’ bodies from the wall of Beth-shan, and brought them back to Jabesh. Then they burned them there.

13 They took the bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Then they fasted for seven days.