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2 Samuel 1
Common English Bible
2 Samuel 1
Common English Bible
David learns of Saul’s death
1 After Saul’s death, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed in Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day, a man showed up from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he reached David, he fell to the ground, bowing low out of respect.
3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him.
“I’ve escaped from the Israelite army!” he answered.
4 “What’s the report?” David asked him. “Tell me!”
The man answered, “The troops fled from the battle! Many of the soldiers have fallen and died. What’s more, Saul and his son Jonathan have also died!”
5 “How do you know,” David asked the young man who brought the news, “that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 The young man who brought the news replied, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and Saul was there, leaning on his spear, with chariots and horsemen closing in on him. 7 He turned around and saw me, then he called to me. ‘Yes, sir,’ I answered. 8 ‘Who are you?’ he asked, and I told him, ‘I’m an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me, ‘Please come over here and kill me, because convulsions have come over me but I’m still alive.’[a] 10 So I went over to him and killed him, because I knew he couldn’t survive after being wounded like that. I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to you, my master.”
11 Then David grabbed his clothes and ripped them—and all his soldiers did the same. 12 They mourned and cried and fasted until evening for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s army, and the whole house of Israel, because they had died by the sword.
13 “Where are you from?” David asked the young man who brought him the news.
“I’m the son of an immigrant,” he answered. “An Amalekite.”
14 Then David said to him, “How is it that you weren’t afraid to raise your hand and destroy the Lord’s anointed?” 15 Then David called for one of the young servants. “Come here!” he said. “Strike him down!” So the servant struck the Amalekite down, and he died.
16 “Your blood is on your own head,” David said to the Amalekite, “because your own mouth testified against you when you admitted, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
David mourns Saul and Jonathan
17 Then David sang this funeral song[b] for Saul and his son Jonathan. 18 David ordered everyone in Judah to learn the Song of the Bow.[c] (In fact, it is written in the scroll from Jashar.)
19 Oh, no, Israel! Your prince[d] lies dead on your heights.[e]
Look how the mighty warriors have fallen!
20 Don’t talk about it in Gath;
don’t bring news of it to Ashkelon’s streets,
or else the Philistines’ daughters will rejoice;
the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate.
21 You hills of Gilboa!
Let there be no dew or rain on you,
and no fields yielding grain offerings.[f]
Because it was there that the mighty warrior’s[g] shield was defiled—
the shield of Saul!—never again anointed with oil.
22 Jonathan’s bow never wavered from the blood of the slain,
from the gore of the warriors.
Never did Saul’s sword return empty.
23 Saul and Jonathan! So well loved, so dearly cherished!
In their lives and in their deaths they were never separated.
They were faster than eagles,
stronger than lions!
24 Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul!
He dressed you in crimson with jewels;
he decorated your clothes with gold jewelry.
25 Look how the mighty warriors have fallen in the midst of battle!
Jonathan lies dead on your heights.
26 I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan!
You were so dear to me!
Your love was more amazing to me[h] than the love of women.
27 Look how the mighty warriors have fallen!
Look how the weapons of war have been destroyed!
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 1:9 Syr, Tg; Heb uncertain
- 2 Samuel 1:17 Or lament
- 2 Samuel 1:18 Heb lacks Song.
- 2 Samuel 1:19 Or gazelle or splendor or splendid one
- 2 Samuel 1:19 Correction
- 2 Samuel 1:21 Heb uncertain, perhaps bountiful fields; alternatively, with LXXL, fields of death, or with correction and no springs from the deep
- 2 Samuel 1:21 Or warriors’ (plural)
- 2 Samuel 1:26 Or your love (or care; cf 1 Sam 18:1, 3; 20:17) for me was more amazing
2 Samuel 1
New International Version
2 Samuel 1
New International Version
David Hears of Saul’s Death(A)
1 After the death(B) of Saul, David returned from striking down(C) the Amalekites(D) and stayed in Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day a man(E) arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head.(F) When he came to David, he fell(G) to the ground to pay him honor.(H)
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.”
5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,(I)” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’
8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’
“‘An Amalekite,(J)’ I answered.
9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me!(K) I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’
10 “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown(L) that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore(M) 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.
13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?”
“I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,(N)” he answered.
14 David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?(O)”
15 Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!”(P) So he struck him down, and he died.(Q) 16 For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head.(R) Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan
17 David took up this lament(S) concerning Saul and his son Jonathan,(T) 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):(U)
20 “Tell it not in Gath,(X)
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,(Y)
lest the daughters of the Philistines(Z) be glad,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.(AA)
21 “Mountains of Gilboa,(AB)
may you have neither dew(AC) nor rain,(AD)
may no showers fall on your terraced fields.[b](AE)
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.(AF)
22 “From the blood(AG) of the slain,
from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow(AH) of Jonathan did not turn back,
the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
23 Saul and Jonathan—
in life they were loved and admired,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,(AI)
they were stronger than lions.(AJ)
24 “Daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.(AK)
25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26 I grieve(AL) for you, Jonathan(AM) my brother;(AN)
you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,(AO)
more wonderful than that of women.
27 “How the mighty have fallen!
The weapons of war have perished!”(AP)
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 1:19 Gazelle here symbolizes a human dignitary.
- 2 Samuel 1:21 Or / nor fields that yield grain for offerings
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.