Top of Page
Page Style
the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed at Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage.
3 David asked him, “Where have you come from?”
He answered, “I have just escaped from the camp of Israel.”
4 “What has happened?” David asked. “Please tell me.”
He answered, “The army fled from the battle. Many of the troops have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”
5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 “I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the enemy’s chariots and horsemen closing in on him. 7 When he looked behind him, he saw me and called out to me, and I answered, ‘At your service’.
8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you’?
“And I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite’.
9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I am mortally wounded, but my life still lingers’.
10 “So I stood over him, and killed him, because I knew after he had fallen he could not survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same. 12 They mourned and wept, and they fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?”
He answered, “I am the son of a foreign resident, an Amalekite.”
14 David said to him, “How is that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
15 Then David called to one of the young men and said, “Come over here and strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. 16 For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be upon your own head. Your own mouth has testified against you when you said, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed’.”
17 David sang this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this, The Lament of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:
19 “Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights!
How the mighty have fallen!
20 “Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
21 “O mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew nor rain upon you,
or fields of offerings;
for there the shield of the mighty was defiled—
the shield of Saul, polished with oil no more.
22 From the blood of the slain,
from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathon did not turn back,
the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23 “Saul and Jonathan,
beloved and cherished,
in life and in death they were not parted;
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
24 “O daughters of Israel,
weep over Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your robes with ornaments of gold.
25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
Jonathan lies slain upon your heights.
26 I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan;
you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,
surpassing the love of women.
27 “How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war have perished!”