1
The Philistines went to war against Israel; the Israelites ran for their lives from the Philistines but fell, slaughtered on Mount Gilboa.
2
The Philistines zeroed in on Saul and his sons and killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua.
3
The battle went hard against Saul - the archers found him and wounded him.
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.
9
They stripped Saul, removed his head and his armor, and put them on exhibit throughout Philistia, reporting the victory news to their idols and the people.