2 Samuel 1

1 ¹ After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. ² On the third day, a man arrived from Saul's camp, his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and bowed low.

³ David asked him, "Where have you come from?" "I escaped from the camp of Israel," he replied.

⁴ "What happened?" David asked. "Tell me." The man said, "The people fled from the battle. Many of them fell and died. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead too."

⁵ Then David said to the young man who brought the news, "How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

⁶ The young man said, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and horsemen closing in on him. ⁷ He turned around, saw me, and called to me. I said, 'Here I am.' ⁸ He asked me, 'Who are you?' I told him, 'I am an Amalekite.' ⁹ Then he said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me. The agony has gripped me, but I am still alive.' ¹⁰ So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew he could not survive his fall. Then I took the crown from his head and the band from his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord."

¹¹ Then David grabbed his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men with him. ¹² They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the people of our Father, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³ David said to the young man who had brought him the news, "Where are you from?" He replied, "I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite."

¹⁴ David said to him, "How were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy our Father's anointed?" ¹⁵ Then David called one of his young men and said, "Go, strike him down!" So he struck him, and he died. ¹⁶ For David had said to him, "Your blood is on your own head, because your own mouth testified against you when you said, 'I killed our Father's anointed.'"

How the Mighty Have Fallen

¹⁷ Then David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸ and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament, called The Bow; it is written in the Book of Jashar: ¹ 1 v18 The Book of Jashar was an ancient Israelite collection of heroic poetry that has not survived.

¹⁹ "Your glory, Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen! ²⁰ Don't tell it in Gath, don't proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.

²¹ Mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer rubbed with oil. ²² From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied. ²³ Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished in life, in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. ²⁴ Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

²⁵ How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on 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! The weapons of war have perished."