Paraphrased from the First Book of Samuel, Chapter 28

Saul, the King of Israel, was about to fight a major battle against the latest archenemies of the Israelites, the Philistines. Concerned about the size of his opponents' army, Saul asked of Adonai if he would win the upcoming battle, or if he had fallen out of favor. He received no answer. Saul then asked prophets if he had fallen out of favor, and they too found no answer.

Dreadfully frightened, he went to contact this local witch, the Witch of Endor, to fortell the battle's outcome (this was especially ironic and even mildly difficult to do since he had earlier outlawed witchcraft). The witch wound up summoning the dead prophet Samuel, who revealed that Saul had indeed lost favor with god due to some earlier unpleasantness (rather than smiting some people he had been commanded to smite, Saul had simply walked away with their cattle), and that he would indeed die in the coming battle.

When the battle ensued, Saul's army was indeed routed, and his sons were killed. Himself pinned down and unable to escape, he decided to impale himself upon his own sword rather than dying by the Philistine's hands.

Creepy, no?

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