² On the third day a man^(A) arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head.^(B) When he came to David, he fell^(C) to the ground to pay him honor.^(D)

³ “Where have you come from?” David asked him.

He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.”

⁴ “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.”

“The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

¹¹ Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore^(A) them.

¹² They 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.

David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ David took up this lament^(A) concerning Saul and his son Jonathan,^(B)