2 Samuel 1
1
David Hears That Saul Has Died
1After Saul died, David returned to Ziklag. He had won the battle over the Amalekites. He stayed in Ziklag for two days. 2On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp. His clothes were torn. He had dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to show him respect.
3“Where have you come from?” David asked him.
He answered, “I’ve escaped from Israel’s camp.”
4“What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.”
He said, “Israel’s men ran away from the battle. Many of them were killed. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”
5David spoke to the young man who brought him the report. He asked him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6“I just happened to be there on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said. “Saul was there too. He was leaning on his spear. The enemy chariots and chariot drivers had almost caught up with him. 7Then he turned around and saw me. He called out to me. I said, ‘What do you want me to do?’
8“He asked me, ‘Who are you?’
“ ‘An Amalekite,’ I answered.
9“Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m close to death, but I’m still alive.’
10“So I stood beside him and killed him. I did it because I knew that after he had lost the battle he would be killed anyway. So I took the crown that was on his head. I also took his armband. I’ve brought them here to you. You are my master.”
11Then David tore his clothes. And all his men tore their clothes. 12All of them were filled with sadness. They mourned over the whole nation of Israel. They didn’t eat anything until evening. That’s because Saul and Jonathan and the Lord’s army had been killed by swords.
13David spoke to the young man who had brought him the report. He asked, “Where are you from?”
“I’m the son of an outsider, an Amalekite,” he answered.
14David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to kill the Lord’s anointed king?”
15Then David called for one of his men. He said, “Go! Strike him down!” So he struck the man down, and the man died. 16That’s because David had said to him, “Anything that happens to you will be your own fault. What your own mouth has spoken is a witness against you. You said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed king.’ ”
David’s Song of Sadness About Saul and Jonathan
17David sang a song of sadness about Saul and his son Jonathan. 18He ordered that it be taught to the people of Judah. It is a song that is played on a stringed instrument. It is written down in the Book of Jashar. David sang,
19“Israel, a gazelle lies dead on your hills.
Your mighty men have fallen.
20“Don’t announce it in Gath.
Don’t tell it in the streets of Ashkelon.
If you do, the daughters of the Philistines will be glad.
The daughters of men who haven’t been circumcised will be joyful.
21“Mountains of Gilboa,
may no dew or rain fall on you.
May no showers fall on your hillside fields.
The shield of the mighty king wasn’t respected there.
The shield of Saul lies there. It isn’t rubbed with oil anymore.
22The bow of Jonathan didn’t turn back.
The sword of Saul didn’t return without being satisfied.
They spilled the blood of their enemies.
They killed mighty men.
23“When they lived, Saul and Jonathan were loved and respected.
When they died, they were not parted.
They were faster than eagles.
They were stronger than lions.
24“Daughters of Israel, mourn over Saul.
He dressed you in the finest clothes.
He decorated your clothes with ornaments of gold.
25“Your mighty men have fallen in battle.
Jonathan lies dead on your hills.
26My brother Jonathan, I’m filled with sadness because of you.
You were very special to me.
Your love for me was wonderful.
It was more wonderful than the love of women.
27“Israel’s mighty men have fallen.
Their weapons of war are broken.”
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2 Samuel 1: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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2 Samuel 1
1
Report of Saul’s Death. 1After the death of Saul, David returned from his victory over the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.#1 Sm 30:17–20; 31:1–13. 2On the third day a man came from the field of battle, one of Saul’s people, with his garments torn and his head covered with dirt. Going to David, he fell to the ground in homage. 3David asked him, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “From the Israelite camp: I have escaped.” 4“What happened?” David said. “Tell me.” He answered that the soldiers had fled the battle and many of them had fallen and were dead; and that Saul and his son Jonathan were dead. 5Then David said to the youth who was reporting to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6#2 Sm 4:10; 1 Sm 31:1–4; 1 Chr 10:1–4. The youth reporting to him replied: “I happened to find myself on Mount Gilboa and saw Saul leaning on his spear, with chariots and horsemen closing in on him. 7He turned around and saw me, and called me to him. When I said, ‘Here I am,’ 8he asked me, ‘Who are you?’ and I replied, ‘An Amalekite.’ 9Then he said to me, ‘Stand over me, please, and put me to death, for I am in great suffering, but still alive.’ 10So I stood over him and put him to death, for I knew that he could not survive his wound. I removed the crown from his head and the armlet from his arm and brought them here to my lord.”
11David seized his garments and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.#2 Sm 13:31. 12They 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.#1 Sm 31:13. 13David said to the youth who had reported to him, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite.” 14David said to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to put forth your hand to desecrate the Lord’s anointed?”#1 Sm 10:1; 24:7; Ps 105:15. 15David then called one of the attendants and said to him, “Come, strike him down”; so he struck him and he died. 16David said to him, “Your blood is on your head, for you testified against yourself when you said, ‘I put the Lord’s anointed to death.’”
Lament for Saul and Jonathan. 17Then David chanted this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan 18(he commanded that it be taught to the Judahites; it is recorded in the Book of Jashar):#Jos 10:13.
19Alas! the glory of Israel,
slain upon your heights!
How can the warriors have fallen!
20Do not report it in Gath,
as good news in Ashkelon’s streets,
Lest Philistine women rejoice,
lest the women of the uncircumcised exult!#Jgs 16:23; 1 Sm 31:9; Mi 1:10.
21O mountains of Gilboa,
upon you be neither dew nor rain,
nor surging from the deeps!#Surging from the deeps: this conjectural reading of the Hebrew yields a parallelism with dew and rain: the mountains where the warriors have fallen in battle are to be desiccated, deprived of water from above (rain, dew) and below (the primordial deeps).
Defiled there the warriors’ shields,
the shield of Saul—no longer anointed with oil!#Gn 27:28.
22From the blood of the slain,
from the bodies of the warriors,
The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor the sword of Saul return unstained.#Unstained: lit., “empty.” The sword was conceived as a devouring mouth; see, e.g., 2:26. #1 Sm 14:47.
23Saul and Jonathan, beloved and dear,
separated neither in life nor death,
swifter than eagles, stronger than lions!
24Women of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and in finery,
covered your clothing with ornaments of gold.
25How can the warriors have fallen
in the thick of battle!
Jonathan—slain upon your heights!
26I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother!
Most dear have you been to me;
More wondrous your love to me
than the love of women.#1 Sm 18:1–4.
27How can the warriors have fallen,
the weapons of war have perished!
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