4
Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and finish me off before these pagan pigs get to me and make a sport of my body." But his armor bearer, restrained by both reverence and fear, wouldn't do it.
5
The armor bearer, panicked because Saul was dead, then killed himself.
6
So Saul and his three sons - all four the same day - died.
7
When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and ran off; the Philistines came and moved in.
8
The next day the Philistines came to plunder the dead bodies and found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.