2 Samuel 1

¹ After Saul died, David came back from defeating the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

² On the third day a man arrived from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he came to David he fell to the ground and bowed low.

³ David said to him, "Where have you come from?" He answered, "I escaped from the camp of Israel."

⁴ David said to him, "How did things go? Tell me." He said, "The people fled from the battle, and many of them have fallen and are dead. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead too."

⁵ David said to the young man who brought him the news, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

⁶ The young man who told him said, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and horsemen closing in on him.

⁷ He turned around, saw me, and called to me. I answered, 'Here I am.'

⁸ He said to me, 'Who are you?' I told him, 'I am an Amalekite.'

⁹ He said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me, for the agony has gripped me, yet I am still alive.'

¹⁰ So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew he could not live after his fall. Then I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord."

¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men with him.

¹² They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the LORD's people and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³ David said to the young man who had told him, "Where are you from?" He answered, "I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite."

¹⁴ David said to him, "How is it you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?"

¹⁵ David called one of his young men and said, "Come, strike him down." So he struck him, and he died.

¹⁶ David said to him, "Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth testified against you when you said, 'I killed the LORD's anointed.'"

¹⁷ David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan,

¹⁸ and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught The Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:

¹⁹ Your glory, Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰ Do not tell it in Gath; do not proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.

²¹ Mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, no fields yielding offerings, for there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

²² From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul never returned empty.

²³ Saul and Jonathan, beloved and gracious in life, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

²⁴ Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who put ornaments of gold on your garments.

²⁵ How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

²⁶ I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan. You were very dear to me. Your love to me was wonderful, more than the love of women.

²⁷ How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished!