1 SamuelChapter 31
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1Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from them. Many of them were killed on Mount Gilboa. 2The Philistines chased hard after Saul and his sons. They killed Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3The fighting grew fierce around Saul. The archers caught up with him and badly wounded him. 4Then Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Pull out your sword and stab me with it. If you don't, these men who are not circumcised will come and stab me and torture me!" But the armor-bearer was terrified. He would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5The armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead. Then he also fell on his own sword and died with him. 6So Saul died that same day. His three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died with him. 7Some Israelites lived along the valley. Others lived on the other side of the Jordan. They saw that Israel's army had run away. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in their cities. 8The next day the Philistines came to strip the dead bodies. They found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. 9They cut off Saul's head and took off his armor. Then they sent messengers all through the land of the Philistines. The messengers told the news in the temples of their idols and to their people. 10They put Saul's armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths. They hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan. 11The people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12So all their brave men set out. They traveled all night. They took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall of Beth-shan. They came to Jabesh and burned the bodies there. 13Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. And they went without food for seven days.