31 Meanwhile, the Philistines were battling against Israel, and the Israelis fled from the Philistines but many were killed on Mt. Gilboa. 2 The Philistines stayed hard on the tail of Sha’ul and his sons, and they killed his sons Yonatan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 3 Then the battle was fierce around Sha’ul, then the Philistine archers sighted him and he writhed in terrible pain from the arrows. 4 He said to the man carrying his equipment, “Draw out your sword and pierce me through with it, lest these uncircumcised Philistines come and pierce me through then torture me as I’m dying.” But the man who carried his equipment was very scared and wouldn’t do it, so Sha’ul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When the man carrying his equipment saw that the king was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Sha’ul, three of his sons, and the man carrying his equipment all died on that same day, along with all his warriors. 7 When the Israelis on the north side of the Yezreel valley and on the east side of the Yordan saw that the Israeli warriors had fled and that Sha’ul and his sons had been killed, they left their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them.

8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip anything valuable from the bodies, they found the bodies of Sha’ul and his three sons there on Mt. Gilboa. 9 They cut off the king’s head and took all his gear. Then they sent messengers all around the Philistine region to spread their good news to the temples of their idols and to all their people. 10 They Sha’ul’s armour and weapons in the temple of the Ashtorets, and hung his body on the Beyt-Shan city wall.

11 When the residents of Yabesh-Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul’s body, 12 all their warriors walked all night to take Sha’ul’s body and those of his sons, off the wall at Beyt-Shan. They took them back to Yabesh and burnt them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Yabesh, and fasted for seven days.