2 Samuel 1International Standard Version (ISV)

David Mourns for Saul and Jonathan

1 Shortly after Saul had died, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and remained in Ziklag for two days. ² The next^[a] day, a man escaped from Saul’s camp! With torn clothes and dirty hair, he approached David, fell to the ground, and bowed down to him.

³ David asked him, “Where did you come from?

He answered him, “I just escaped from Israel’s encampment.”

⁴ David continued questioning him, “How did things go? Please tell me!”

He replied, “The army has fled the battlefield, many of the army are wounded^[b] or have died, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”

⁵ David asked the young man who related the story,^[c] “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶ The young man who had been relating the story^[d] answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa and there was Saul, leaning on his spear! Meanwhile, the chariots and horsemen were rapidly drawing near. ⁷ Saul^[e] glanced behind him, saw me, and called out to me, so I replied, ‘Here I am!’ ⁸ He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I’m an Amalekite!’ ⁹ He begged me, ‘Please—come stand here next to me and kill me, because I’m still alive.’ ¹⁰ So I stood next to him and killed him, because I knew that he wouldn’t live after he had fallen. I took the crown that had been on his head, along with the bracelet that had been on his arm, and I have brought them to your majesty.”^[f]

¹¹ On hearing this,^[g] David grabbed his clothes and tore them, as did all the men who were attending to him. ¹² They mourned and wept, and then decided to fast^[h] until dusk for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the army of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen in battle.^[i]

¹³ Meanwhile, David asked the young man who had told him the story,^[j] “Where are you from?”

He answered, “I’m an Amalekite, the son of a foreign man.”

¹⁴ At this David asked him, “How is it that you weren’t afraid to raise your hand to strike the Lord’s anointed?”

¹⁵ Then David called out to one of his young men and ordered him, “Go up to him and cut him down!” So he attacked him and killed him.

¹⁶ David told him, “Your blood is on your own head, because your own words^[k] testified against you! After all, you said, ‘I myself have killed the Lord’s anointed!’”

David’s Song for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ So David intoned this song of lament about Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸ and he gave orders^[l] to teach the descendants of Judah the art of warfare,^[m] as is recorded in the Book of Jashar:^[n]