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David Learns of Saul's Death

¹ Now it ^(C1)happened after the death of Saul, when David had returned from ^(C2)the slaughter of the Amalekites, that he stayed two days in Ziklag.² On the third day ^(C1)a man came unexpectedly from Saul's camp ^(C2)with his clothes torn and dust on his head as in mourning. When he came to David, ^(C3)he bowed to the ground and lay himself face down in an act of great respect and submission.³ Then David asked him, "Where do you come from?" He said, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel."⁴ David said to him, "^(C1)How did it go? Please tell me." He answered, "The people have fled from the battle. Also, many of the people have fallen and are dead; Saul and Jonathan his son are also dead."⁵ So David said to the young man who informed him, "How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"⁶ And the young man who told him explained, "By chance I happened to be on ^(C1)Mount Gilboa, and there was ^(C2)Saul leaning on his spear, and the chariots and horsemen of the Philistines were close behind him.⁷ "When he turned to look behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, 'Here I am.'⁸ "He asked me, 'Who are you?' I answered him, 'I am ^(C1)an Amalekite.'⁹ "He said to me, 'Stand up facing me and kill me, for terrible agony has come over me, yet I still live and I will be taken alive.'¹⁰ "So I stood facing him ^(F1)(C1)and killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. Then ^(C2)I took the crown which was on his head and the ^(F2)band which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord." ^(VR1)

¹¹ Then ^(C1)David grasped his own clothes and tore them in mourning; so did all the men who were with him.¹² They mourned and wept and ^(C1)fasted until evening for Saul and Jonathan his son, and for the LORD'S people and the house of ^(F1)Israel, because they had fallen by the sword in battle.¹³ David said to the young man who informed him, "Where are you from?" He answered, "^(C1)I am the son of a foreigner (resident alien, sojourner), an Amalekite."¹⁴ David said to him, "How is it that you were not afraid ^(C1)to put out your hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?"¹⁵ David called one of the young men and said, "Go, execute him." So ^(C1)he struck the Amalekite and he died.¹⁶ David said to the fallen man, "^(F1)(C1)Your blood is on your own head, for ^(C2)your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the LORD'S anointed.'"

David's Dirge for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ Then David ^(C1)sang this dirge (funeral song) over Saul and his son Jonathan,¹⁸ and he told them to teach the sons of Judah, the song of the bow. Behold, it is written in ^(F1)(C1)the Book of Jashar:

¹⁹ "Your glory and splendor, O Israel, is slain upon your high places!
^(C1)How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰ "^(C1)Tell it not in Gath,
Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
Or ^(C2)the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
The daughters of ^(C3)the uncircumcised (pagans) will exult.

²¹ "^(F1)(C1)O mountains of Gilboa,
^(C2)Let not dew or rain be upon you, nor fields with offerings;
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
The shield of Saul, dry, cracked not ^(F2)(C3)anointed with oil.

²² "^(C1)From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,
^(C2)The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

²³ "Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely and friends in their lives,
And in their death they were not separated;
^(C1)They were swifter than eagles,
^(C2)They were stronger than lions.

²⁴ "O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
Who clothed you ^(F1)luxuriously in scarlet,
Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

²⁵ "^(C1)How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.

²⁶ "I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been a good friend to me.
^(C1)Your ^(F1)love toward me was more wonderful
Than the love of women.

²⁷ "^(C1)How the mighty have fallen,
And ^(C2)the weapons of war have perished!"