The war between the Philistines and Israel was
fierce. Many Israelites died and the others ran
from the battlefield. Three of Saul’s sons were
killed, including Jonathan.
An arrow hit Saul and he knew he was about to
die. He turned to the man who carried his armor.
“Pull out your sword and kill me. If these pagans
find me alive, they’ll torture me until I’m dead.”
The armor-bearer refused to kill his king, so
Saul fell on his own sword and died. When his
armor-bearer saw this, he fell on his sword and
died.
A man came along who was a soldier for
Israel, but from another country. He saw that
Saul was dead, so he took the king’s crown off
his head so he could take it to David.
When the people who lived in that area saw
the total destruction of Saul’s army, they left
their cities and ran for their lives. The Philistines
entered those cities and took them over.
The next day, they went back into the field to
plunder the dead bodies. That was when they
found Saul and his sons. They cut off Saul’s head
and hung his body from a city wall. They then
hung the bodies of his son’s next to him. They
sent his armor back to their country and it was
put in the temple of their gods. News of Saul’s
death spread throughout their country.
Back when Saul first became king, his
first act was to rescue a city that was being
threatened by the Ammonites, who said they
would gouge out the right eye of everyone in
the city. When that city heard about Saul’s body
hanging from a wall, they traveled all night to get
to it. They took it down from the wall, as well as
the bodies of his sons. Once they buried them,
they fasted for seven days.
The man with Saul’s crown went to Ziklag to
tell David about the death of King Saul and his
sons. David said, “How do you know that Saul
and Jonathan are dead?”
A man said, “I was walking through the
battlefield when the king saw me. He yelled,
‘Come over here and kill me with your sword.
These ungodly dogs will be here in a few
minutes. If they find me alive, they’ll torture me.’
So I did as I was told. I took my sword and killed
him. I then brought his crown to you.”
David ripped his clothes and cried out in pain.
He and his men mourned the death of Saul and
Jonathan. David then said to the man who came
with the news. “You’ve admitted that you killed
the Lord’s anointed.” He turned to one of his
men. “Pull out your sword and kill this man.”
David continued to mourn the death of King
Saul and Jonathan.

© God Child