1 Chronicles 10:1-14
Saul Takes it Life
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him.
4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and abuse me.”
But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together.
7 When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news among their idols and their people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung up his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.
13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
The Chronicles author switches for genealogy to a story about King Saul...
The Philistine people fought against the people of Israel...The Israelites ran away from them...And many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa...The Philistines continued chasing Saul and his sons...And they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua...The fighting became heavy around Saul...The archers shot him with their arrows and wounded him...Then Saul said to the officer who carried his armor, “Pull out your sword and kill me...If you don’t, these men who are not circumcised will come and hurt me.”...But the officer was afraid...So he refused to kill Saul...Then Saul took his own sword and fell on it...The officer saw that Saul was dead...So he fell on his own sword and died...So Saul and three of his sons died...All his family died together...
The Israelites living in the valley saw that their army had run away...And they saw that Saul and his sons were dead...So they left their towns and ran away...Then the Philistines came and lived in those towns of the Israelites...The next day the Philistines came to take valuable things from the dead bodies...On Mount Gilboa they found the bodies of Saul and his sons...The Philistines stripped Saul’s body...And they took his head and his armor...They sent messengers through all their country to tell the news to their idols and their people...The Philistines put Saul’s armor in the temple of their idols...And they hung his head in the temple of Dagon...All the people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul...So all the brave men from Jabesh Gilead went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons...They brought them to Jabesh Gilead...Then they buried the bones of Saul and his sons under the large tree in Jabesh...And they gave up eating for seven days...
Saul died because he was not faithful to the LORD...He did not obey the LORD...He even went to a medium and asked her for advice...He did this instead of asking the LORD for help...This is why the LORD put Saul to death and gave the kingdom to Jesse’s son David...