1 Samuel 31:8-13 ▼

8 The next day, when the Philistines came to plunder the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

9 So they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his weapons and armor and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to bring the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.

10 And they put Saul’s weapons and armor in the temple of the Ashtaroth (female goddesses), and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

11 When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

12 all the brave men stood and walked all night, and they took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and cremated them there.

13 They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted [as a sign of mourning and respect] for seven days.