David Hears of Saul’s Death(A)

After the death(B) of Saul, David returned from striking down(C) the Amalekites(D) and stayed in Ziklag two days. 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)

“Where have you come from?” David asked him.

He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.”

“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.”

Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

“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. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’

“He asked me, ‘Who are you?’

“‘An Amalekite,(J)’ I answered.

“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)

19 “A gazelle[a] lies slain on your heights, Israel.
    How the mighty(V) have fallen!(W)

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

  1. 2 Samuel 1:19 Gazelle here symbolizes a human dignitary.
  2. 2 Samuel 1:21 Or / nor fields that yield grain for offerings

David and Mephibosheth

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”(A)

Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba.(B) They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“At your service,” he replied.

The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”

Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan;(C) he is lame(D) in both feet.”

“Where is he?” the king asked.

Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir(E) son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.(F)

David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“At your service,” he replied.

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan.(G) I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.(H)

Mephibosheth(I) bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog(J) like me?”

Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson(K) may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s[a] table like one of the king’s sons.(L)

12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth.(M) 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 9:11 Septuagint; Hebrew my

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