David’s Victory over the Amalekites

30 Then it happened when David and his men came to ^(A)Ziklag on the third day, that ^(B)the Amalekites had made a raid on the ^[a]Negev and on ^(C)Ziklag, and had ^[b]overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; ² and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, ^[c](D)without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. ³ When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him ^(E)lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. ⁵ Now ^(F)David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the ^[d]widow of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶ Moreover David was greatly distressed because ^(G)the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were ^[e]embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But ^(H)David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

⁷ Then ^(I)David said to ^(J)Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ^8 (K)David inquired of the Lord, saying, “^(L)Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, ^(M)and you will surely rescue all.” ⁹ So David went, ^(N)he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. ¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for ^(O)two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.

¹¹ Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. ¹² They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; ^(P)then his spirit ^[f]revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³ David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago. ¹⁴ We made a raid on ^(Q)the ^[g]Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on ^(R)the ^[h]Negev of Caleb, and ^(S)we burned Ziklag with fire.” ¹⁵ Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”

¹⁶ When he had brought him down, behold, they were ^[i]spread over all the land, ^(T)eating and drinking and ^[j]dancing because of ^(U)all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷ David ^[k]slaughtered them ^(V)from the twilight ^[l]until the evening of ^[m]the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on ^(W)camels and fled. ¹⁸ So David ^(X)recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and ^[n]rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; ^(Y)David brought it all back. ²⁰ So David had ^[o]captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of ^[p]the other livestock, and they said, “^(Z)This is David’s spoil.”

The Spoils Are Divided

²¹ When ^(AA)David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. ²² Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with ^[q]us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.” ²³ Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us. ²⁴ And who will listen to you in this matter? For ^(AB)as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.” ²⁵ So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶ Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, ^(AC)a ^[r]gift for you from the spoil of ^(AD)the enemies of the Lord: ²⁷ to those who were in ^(AE)Bethel, and to those who were in ^(AF)Ramoth of the ^[s]Negev, and to those who were in ^(AG)Jattir, ²⁸ and to those who were in ^(AH)Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in ^(AI)Eshtemoa, ²⁹ and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of ^(AJ)the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of ^(AK)the Kenites, ³⁰ and to those who were in ^(AL)Hormah, and to those who were in ^(AM)Bor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach, ³¹ and to those who were in ^(AN)Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to ^(AO)go.”

²⁰ As he went to Ziklag there defected to him from Manasseh: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai, ^[a]captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David against ^(A)the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor, and were captains in the army. ²² For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army ^(B)like the army of God.

Saul and His Sons Slain

31 ^(A)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain ^(B)on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines ^[a]killed ^(C)Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul. ^3 (D)The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers ^[b]hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. ^4 (E)Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise ^(F)these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. ^(G)So Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.

⁷ When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸ It came about on the ^[c]next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them ^[d]throughout the land of the Philistines, ^(H)to carry the good news ^(I)to the house of their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his weapons in the ^[e]temple of ^(J)Ashtaroth, and ^(K)they fastened his body to the wall of ^(L)Beth-shan. ¹¹ Now when ^(M)the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard ^[f]what the Philistines had done to Saul, ^12 (N)all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and ^(O)burned them there. ¹³ They took their bones and ^(P)buried them under ^(Q)the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and ^(R)fasted seven days.

Defeat and Death of Saul and His Sons

10 ^(A)Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, ^[a](B)Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³ The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers ^[b]overtook him; and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. ^(C)Therefore Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died. ^6 (D)Thus Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.

⁷ When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸ It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ^9 (E)So they stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.

Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul

¹¹ When all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ^12 (F)all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

^13 (G)So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also ^(H)because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, ¹⁴ and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and ^(I)turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.

⁴⁰ The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal became the father of Micah. ⁴¹ The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea ^(A)and Ahaz. ⁴² Ahaz became the father of Jarah, and Jarah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza, ⁴³ and Moza became the father of Binea and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴ Azel had six sons whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru and Ishmael and Sheariah and Obadiah and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

David Learns of Saul’s Death

1 Now it came about after ^(A)the death of Saul, when David had returned from ^(B)the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David remained two days in Ziklag. ² On the third day, behold, ^(C)a man came out of the camp from Saul, ^(D)with his clothes torn and ^[a]dust on his head. And it came about when he came to David that ^(E)he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. ³ Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ David said to him, “^(F)How did things go? Please tell me.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.” ⁵ So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ The young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on ^(G)Mount Gilboa, and behold, ^(H)Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely. ⁷ When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ He said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I ^[b]answered him, ‘^(I)I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ Then he said to me, ‘Please stand beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my ^[c]life still lingers in me.’ ¹⁰ So I stood beside him ^(J)and killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And ^(K)I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then ^(L)David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. ¹² They mourned and wept and ^(M)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. ¹³ David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he ^[d]answered, “^(N)I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid ^(O)to stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, ^[e]cut him down.” ^(P)So he struck him and he died. ¹⁶ David said to him, “^(Q)Your blood is on your head, for ^(R)your mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

David’s Dirge for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ Then David ^(S)chanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in ^(T)the book of Jashar.