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Saul Kills Himself

¹ Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. And the men of Israel ran from the Philistines and were killed and fell on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines came after Saul and his sons. They killed Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua. ³ The battle went against Saul. The men who used the bow hit him with arrows and hurt him very much. ⁴ Then Saul said to the one who carried his battle-clothes, "Take your sword and cut through me with it. Or these men who have not gone through our religious act will come and kill me with the sword and make fun of me." But the one who carried his battle-clothes would not do it, for he was filled with fear. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵ When the one who carried his battle-clothes saw that Saul was dead, he fell on his sword also, and died with him. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, the one who carried his battle-clothes, and all his men, died that day together.

⁷ The men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left the cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in them. ⁸ When the Philistines came to rob the dead the next day, they found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off Saul's head and took his sword and battle-clothes, and sent them through the land of the Philistines. They sent them to carry the good news to the house of their gods and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his sword and battle-clothes in the house of their god Ashtaroth. And they tied his body to the wall of Beth-shan. ¹¹ When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the men with strength of heart went and walked all night. They took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh. There they burned them. ¹³ They took

their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh. And they did not eat for seven days.