Sarah
The Philistines fought against Israel.
The Israelites fled before the Philistines, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa.
The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s three sons: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua.
The battle became more intense. Saul was struck by the archers and was badly wounded.
Saul said to his armor-bearer:
“Draw your sword and kill me, so that these uncircumcised men may not come and kill me and abuse me.”
But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it.
So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.
So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that day.
When the Israelites who lived in the nearby towns saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied them.
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the bodies of the dead, they found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.
They cut off Saul’s head, took off his armor, and sent his armor throughout the land of the Philistines to announce the news in their temples and among their people.
They placed Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, their brave men traveled through the night to Beth-shan.
They took down the bodies of Saul and his three sons from the wall and brought them back to Jabesh-gilead.
There they burned the bodies.
Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh. And they fasted for seven days.