2 Samuel 1

David hears of Saul’s death

¹After the death of Saul, when David had come back from defeating the Amalekites, David stayed in Ziklag for two days. ²On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head. When he came to David, he threw himself to the ground and bowed low. ³David asked him, “Where have you come from?” He answered, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴David said to him, “What happened? Please tell me.” He said, “The troops fled from the battle, and many of them fell and died. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead too.” ⁵Then David said to the young man who had brought the news, “How do you know that Saul is dead, and his son Jonathan?” ⁶The young man who was telling him said, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, while the chariots and the horsemen were closing in on him.^{a 7}He turned around and saw me, and he called to me. I said, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹He said to me, ‘Please stand over me and put me to death, for agony has taken hold of me, though my life still lingers in me.’ ¹⁰So I stood over him and put him to death, because I knew he could not live once he had fallen. Then I took the crown from his head and the band from his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.” ¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. ¹²They mourned and wept and went without food until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, since they had fallen by the sword.

¹³David said to the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I am the son of an outsider who lives among you, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴David said to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” ¹⁵Then David called one of his young men and said, “Go and strike him down!” So he struck him, and the man died. ¹⁶David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”

David’s lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷Then David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow, which is written in the Book of Jashar.^{b 19}“Israel, your splendor lies slain on your heights! \q How the warriors have fallen!^{c 20}Do not tell it in Gath; \q do not spread the news through the streets of Ashkelon, \q or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, \q and the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate. ²¹Mountains of Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you, and no fields that yield offerings, \q for there the shield of the warriors was defiled, \q the shield of Saul, \q no longer rubbed with oil.^{d 22}From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the warriors, \q the bow of Jonathan never turned back, \q and the sword of Saul never came home empty. ²³Saul and Jonathan, loved and delightful in life, \q were not separated in their death. \q They were faster than eagles \q and stronger than lions. ²⁴Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, \q who dressed you in scarlet and finery, \q who set gold ornaments on your clothes. ²⁵How the warriors have fallen in the thick of the battle! \q Jonathan lies slain on your heights. ²⁶I am in anguish over you, my brother Jonathan; \q you were a great delight to me. \q Your love for me was a wonder, \q beyond the love of women. ²⁷How the warriors have fallen, \q and the weapons of war are lost!”