1 *Chronicles 10

₁The Philistine soldiers made war_against the people of Israel and the Israelites tried to run away from the Philistines. The Philistines killed a lot of Israelites on Mount Gilboa. ₂They then attacked Saul and his sons. They caught his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua and killed them. ₃Then the Philistines attacked Saul with bows_and_arrows and they wounded him. ₄He told his weapon-carrier: ‘You must take your sword and kill me. I do not want these Gentiles to kill me and laugh at me.’ But his weapon-carrier did not want to do it. He was too afraid. Then Saul took his own sword and he fell onto it so that his sword went through him. ₅When his weapon-carrier saw that Saul was dead, he also fell onto his sword and he died with Saul. ₆So Saul and his 3 sons died together.

₇When they told the Israelites in the valley that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul was dead, they also fled and ran from their towns. The Philistines then came and they went to live in those towns. ₈The next day the Philistines came to take the clothes and other things from the dead people. They found Saul and his 3 sons on Mount Gilboa and they saw that Saul and his sons were dead. ₉They took Saul's clothes and other things. They cut off his head and they sent it with his weapons to all the people in the land of the Philistines to take the good news to the people in the temples of their idols. ₁₀They put Saul's weapons in their temple and they hung his head in the temple of their god, Dagon.

₁₁They told the people of the town of Jabesh-Gilead what the Philistines had done to Saul. ₁₂Then all the important men went there and they took the bodies of Saul and his sons and they brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the big tree at Jabesh and they all fasted for 7 days.

₁₃Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He didn't do what God had told him to do but he went to a medium to ask her what he must do. ₁₄He did not ask the Lord what to do. That is why the Lord caused him to die and He made David, son of Jesse, king in Saul's place.