2 Samuel 1:12-24

New International Version

¹²They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?”

“I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,^(A)” he answered.

¹⁴David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?^(B)”

¹⁵Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!”^(C) So he struck him down, and he died.^(D) ¹⁶For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head.^(E) Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷David took up this lament^(F) concerning Saul and his son Jonathan,^(G) ¹⁸and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):^(H)

¹⁹“A gazelle^[a] lies slain on your heights, Israel.
How the mighty^(I) have fallen!^(J)

²⁰“Tell it not in Gath,^(K)
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,^(L)
lest the daughters of the Philistines^(M) be glad,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.^(N)

²¹“Mountains of Gilboa,^(O)
    may you have neither dew^(P) nor rain,^(Q)
    may no showers fall on your terraced fields.^[b]^(R)
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
    the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.^(S)

²²“From the blood^(T) of the slain,
    from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow^(U) of Jonathan did not turn back,
    the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
²³Saul and Jonathan—
    in life they were loved and admired,
    and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,^(V)
    they were stronger than lions.^(W)