CHAPTER 1
After
the death
of Saul,
David
returned
from the slaughter
of the Amalekites
and stayed
in Ziklag
two
days.
On the third
day
a man
with torn
clothes
and dust
on
his head
arrived
from
Saul’s
camp.
When he came
to
David,
he fell
to the ground
to pay him homage.
“What
was the outcome?”
David
asked.
“Please
tell me.”
“The troops
fled
from
the battle,”
he replied.
“Many
of
them
fell
and died.
And
Saul
and his son
Jonathan
are also dead.”
David
asked
the young man
who had brought him the report,
“How
do you know
Saul
and his son
Jonathan
are dead?”
“I happened
to be on Mount
Gilboa,”
he
replied,
“and there
was Saul,
leaning
on
his spear,
with
the chariots
and the cavalry
closing in on him.
Then he begged me,
‘Stand
over
me and kill me,
for
agony
has seized me
but
my life
still
lingers.’
So I stood
over
him and killed him,
because
I knew
that
after
he had fallen
he could not
survive.
And I took
the crown
that
was on
his head
and the band
that
was on
his arm,
and I have brought
them here
to
my lord."
Then David
took hold
of his clothes
and tore them,
and all
the men
who were
with him
did the same.
They mourned
and wept
and fasted
until
evening
for
Saul
and
his son
Jonathan,
and for the people
of the LORD
and the house
of Israel,
because
they had fallen
by the sword.
And David
inquired
of
the young man
who had brought him the report,
“Where
are you from?”
“I am the son
of a foreigner,”
he answered.
“I am
an Amalekite.”
Then David
summoned
one
of the young men
and said,
“Go,
execute him!”
So he struck him down,
and he died.
For David
had said
to the Amalekite,
“Your blood
be on
your own head
because
your own mouth
testified
against you,
saying,
‘I
killed
the LORD’s
anointed.’”
and he ordered
that the sons
of Judah
be taught
the Song of the Bow.
It is written
in
the Book
of Jashar:
Tell it
not
in Gath;
proclaim it
not
in the streets
of Ashkelon,
lest
the daughters
of the Philistines
rejoice,
and the daughters
of the uncircumcised
exult.
O mountains
of Gilboa,
may you have
no
dew
or rain,
no fields
yielding offerings of grain.
For
there
the shield
of the mighty
was defiled,
the shield
of Saul,
no longer
anointed
with oil.
From the blood
of the slain,
from the fat
of the mighty,
the bow
of Jonathan
did not
retreat,
and the sword
of Saul
did not
return
empty.
Saul
and Jonathan,
beloved
and delightful
in life,
were not
divided
in death.
They were swifter
than eagles,
they were stronger
than lions.
O daughters
of Israel,
weep
for
Saul,
who clothed you
in scarlet
and
luxury,
who decked
your garments
with
ornaments
of gold.
I grieve
for you,
Jonathan,
my brother.
You were delightful
to me;
your love
to me
was extraordinary,
surpassing the love
of women.