II Samuel Chapter 1

II Samuel 1 — English translation

Translation: THE JPS TANAKH: Gender-Sensitive Edition. Verse numbers match the Hebrew text below.

1. 1After the death of Saul—David had already returned from defeating the Amalekites—David stayed two days in Ziklag.
2. 2On the third day, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes rent and earth on his head; and as he approached David, he flung himself to the ground and bowed low.
3. 3David said to him, “Where are you coming from?” He answered, “I have just escaped from the camp of Israel.”
4. 4“What happened?” asked David. “Tell me!” And he told him how the troops had fled the battlefield, and that, moreover, many of the troops had fallen and died; also that Saul and his son Jonathan were dead.
5. 5“How do you know,” David asked the young man who brought him the news, “that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6. 6The young man who brought him the news answered, “I happened to be at Mount Gilboa, and I saw Saul leaning on his spear, and the chariots and riders closing in on him.
7. 7He looked around and saw me, and he called to me. When I responded, ‘At your service,’
8. 8he asked me, ‘Who are you?’ And I told him that I was an Amalekite.
9. 9Then he said to me, ‘Stand over me, and finish me off, for I am in agony and am barely alive.’
10. 10So I stood over him and finished him off, for I knew that he would never rise from where he was lying. Then I took the crown from his head and the armlet from his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
11. 11David took hold of his clothes and rent them, and so did all the men with him.
12. 12They lamented and wept, and they fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the soldiers of G OD and the House of Israel who had fallen by the sword.
13. 13David said to the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite.”
14. 14“How did you dare,” David said to him, “to lift your hand and kill G OD ’s anointed?”
15. 15Thereupon David called one of the attendants and said to him, “Come over and strike him!” He struck him down and he died.
16. 16And David said to him, “Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I put G OD ’s anointed to death.’”
17. 17And David intoned this dirge over Saul and his son Jonathan—
18. 18He ordered the Judahites to be taught [The Song of the] Bow. It is recorded in the Book of Jashar.
19. 19Your glory, O Israel, Lies slain on your heights; How have the mighty fallen!
20. 20Tell it not in Gath, Do not proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, Lest the daughters of the Philistine rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
21. 21O hills of Gilboa— Let there be no dew or rain on you, Or bountiful fields, , and Gen. 7.11; 8.2). For there the shield of warriors lay rejected, The shield of Saul, Polished with oil no more.
22. 22From the blood of slain, From the fat of warriors— The bow of Jonathan Never turned back; The sword of Saul Never withdrew empty.
23. 23Saul and Jonathan, Beloved and cherished, Never parted In life or in death! They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions!
24. 24Daughters of Israel, Weep over Saul, Who clothed you in crimson and finery, Who decked your robes with jewels of gold.
25. 25How have the mighty fallen In the thick of battle— Jonathan, slain on your heights!
26. 26I grieve for you, My brother Jonathan, You were most dear to me. Your love was wonderful to me More than the love of women.
27. 27How have the mighty fallen, The weapons of war perished!

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