2 Samuel (2 Kings)
Chapter 1 of 24
2On the third day a man came from the camp, from Saul's army, with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and bowed down to him. 3David asked him, "Where have you come from?" He said, "I escaped from the camp of Israel." 4David said to him, "What happened? Tell me." He said, "The army fled from the battle. Many of the people fell, and Saul and his son Jonathan are dead too." 5David said to the man who brought the news, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?" 6The man who brought the news said, "They fought and fell on Mount Gilboa. Then I found Saul leaning on his spear, and the chariots and the horsemen were closing in on him. 7He turned around, saw me, and called to me. I said, 'Here I am.' 8He asked me, 'Who are you?' I told him, 'I am an Amalekite.' 9He said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me, because a terrible darkness has seized me, and my life is not fully in me.' 10So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew he could not live after he had fallen. I took the crown from his head and the band that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord." 11Then David tore his clothes, and all the men who were with him tore theirs. 12They mourned and fasted and wept until evening for Saul, for Jonathan, for the people of Judah, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13David said to the man who brought the news, "Where are you from?" He said, "I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite." 14David said to him, "How were you not afraid to raise your hand against the LORD's anointed and kill him?" 15Then David called one of his young men and said, "Go, kill him." And he killed him. 16David said to him, "Your blood is on your own head, because your own mouth spoke against you when you said, 'I killed the LORD's anointed.'" 17Then David lamented over Saul and his son Jonathan. 18He said this was to be taught to the people of Judah, and he said, "See, it is written in the Book of the Upright." 19"Set up a monument, Israel, over the dead, over those slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen! 20Do not tell it in Gath, do not announce it in the gates of Ashkelon, so the daughters of the Philistines will not rejoice, so the daughters of the uncircumcised will not celebrate. 21Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain fall on you, nor on your fields of first fruits, for there the shield of the mighty was broken. Saul's shield was not anointed with oil, but with the blood of the slain. 22The bow of Jonathan never turned back empty, and the sword of Saul never came back empty. 23Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely, whose beauty set them apart in life, were not divided in death either. They were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions. 24Daughters of Jerusalem, weep over Saul, who clothed you in fine garments with your jewelry and put gold ornaments on your clothing. 25How the mighty have fallen on the heights among the slain! 26I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan. You were very dear to me. Your love for me was far more wonderful than the love of women. 27How the mighty have fallen, and the men of war have perished!" ‹
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2 Samuel (2 Kings) · Chapter 1 of 24