31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines, with many of them falling dead on mount Gilboa. 31:2 The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons. They1 struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 31:3 As the battle against Saul became severe, the archers2 found him and critically injured him.
31:4 Saul said to the one who was carrying his equipment, “Draw your sword and run it through me, lest these uncircumcised men come, run me through, and deal ruthlessly with me.” But the one who was carrying his equipment was unwilling to do so, for he was very fearful. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. 31:5 When the one who was carrying his equipment saw that Saul had died, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 31:6 So Saul, his three sons, the one who was carrying his equipment, and all his men died together on that day.
31:7 When the men of Israel who were across the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and settled in them.
31:8 On the following day, when the Philistines came to strip those who had been slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa. 31:9 They decapitated him and stripped him of his equipment, and then sent messengers to announce the good news in the temple of their idols and among their people throughout the surrounding land of the Philistines. 31:10 They deposited his equipment in the temple of the Ashtarot and hung his corpse on the wall of Beth Shan.
31:11 When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about what the Philistines had done to Saul, 31:12 all their warriors arose and traveled all night. They took Saul’s corpse and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went3 to Jabesh, where they burned them. 31:13 Then they took their skeletal remains, buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.