2 Samuel 1

After Saul’s death, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag for two days. On the third day, a man came from Saul’s camp with torn clothes and dirt on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. David asked him, “Where have you come from?” He answered, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” David asked him, “What happened? Please tell me.” He answered, “The people fled from the battle, and many of the people fell and died. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead as well.” David asked the young man who brought him the news, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” The young man who brought him the news said, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa. There was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and horsemen closing in on him. He turned around, saw me and called to me. I said, ‘Here I am.’ He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ Then he said to me, ‘Please stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, but my life is still in me.’ So I stood beside him and killed him, for I knew he would not live after his fall. I took the crown from his head and the armlet from his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.” David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and all the men with him did the same. They mourned, wept and fasted until evening for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the LORD’s people and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. David asked the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I am the son of an Amalekite resident foreigner.” David said to him, “How were you not afraid to raise your hand to kill the LORD’s anointed?” Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, strike him down.” He struck him, and he died. David said to him, “Your blood be on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’” David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan and ordered that the people of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar: “Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights!
How the mighty have fallen! Do not tell it in Gath;
do not announce it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields yielding offerings!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, Jonathan’s bow did not turn back, and Saul’s sword did not return empty. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their lives, were not parted in their death.
They were swifter than eagles;
they were stronger than lions. Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who put gold ornaments on your garments. How the mighty have fallen in the midst of battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your heights. I am distressed for you, Jonathan my brother.
You were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished!”

Rights and attribution