1:1 | Shortly after Saul died, David returned to Ziklag from his rout of the Amalekites. |
1:2 | Three days later a man showed up unannounced from Saul's army camp. Disheveled and obviously in mourning, he fell to his knees in respect before David. |
1:3 | David asked, "What brings you here?" He answered, "I've just escaped from the camp of Israel." |
1:4 | "So what happened?" said David. "What's the news?" He said, "The Israelites have fled the battlefield, leaving a lot of their dead comrades behind. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead." |
1:5 | David pressed the young soldier for details: "How do you know for sure that Saul and Jonathan are dead?" |
1:6 | "I just happened by Mount Gilboa and came on Saul, badly wounded and leaning on his spear, with enemy chariots and horsemen bearing down hard on him. |
1:7 | He looked behind him, saw me, and called me to him. 'Yes sir,' I said, 'at your service.' |
1:8 | He asked me who I was, and I told him, 'I'm an Amalekite.'" |
1:9 | "Come here," he said, "and put me out of my misery. I'm nearly dead already, but my life hangs on." |
1:10 | "So I did what he asked--I killed him. I knew he wouldn't last much longer anyway. I removed his royal headband and bracelet, and have brought them to my master. Here they are." |
1:11 | In lament, David ripped his clothes to ribbons. All the men with him did the same. |
1:12 | They wept and fasted the rest of the day, grieving the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, and also the army of GOD and the nation Israel, victims in a failed battle. |
1:13 | Then David spoke to the young soldier who had brought the report: "Who are you, anyway?" "I'm from an immigrant family--an Amalekite." |
1:14 | "Do you mean to say," said David, "that you weren't afraid to up and kill GOD's anointed king?" |
1:15 | Right then he ordered one of his soldiers, "Strike him dead!" The soldier struck him, and he died. |
1:16 | "You asked for it," David told him. "You sealed your death sentence when you said you killed GOD's anointed king." |
1:17 | Then David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, |
1:18 | and gave orders that everyone in Judah learn it by heart. Yes, it's even inscribed in The Book of Jashar. |
1:19 | Oh, oh, Gazelles of Israel, struck down on your hills, the mighty warriors--fallen, fallen! |
1:20 | Don't announce it in the city of Gath, don't post the news in the streets of Ashkelon. Don't give those coarse Philistine girls one more excuse for a drunken party! |
1:21 | No more dew or rain for you, hills of Gilboa, and not a drop from springs and wells, For there the warriors' shields were dragged through the mud, Saul's shield left there to rot. |
1:22 | Jonathan's bow was bold--the bigger they were the harder they fell. Saul's sword was fearless--once out of the scabbard, nothing could stop it. |
1:23 | Saul and Jonathan--beloved, beautiful! Together in life, together in death. Swifter than plummeting eagles, stronger than proud lions. |
1:24 | Women of Israel, weep for Saul. He dressed you in finest cottons and silks, spared no expense in making you elegant. |
1:25 | The mighty warriors--fallen, fallen in the middle of the fight! Jonathan--struck down on your hills! |
1:26 | O my dear brother Jonathan, I'm crushed by your death. Your friendship was a miracle-wonder, love far exceeding anything I've known--or ever hope to know. |
1:27 | The mighty warriors--fallen, fallen. And the arms of war broken to bits. |