1After Saul died, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag for two days.
2On the third day, a man arrived from Saul’s camp. His clothes were torn and he had dirt on his head. When he reached David, he bowed down to the ground in respect.
3David asked him, “Where do you come from?” The man replied, “I escaped from the Israelite camp.”
4David asked him, “What happened? Please tell me.” He answered, “The soldiers ran away from the battle, and many of them have died. Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”
5David asked the young man who brought the news, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6The young man replied, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and I saw Saul leaning on his spear, while the chariots and horsemen were closing in on him.
7When he looked back, he saw me and called to me. I answered, ‘Here I am.’
8He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I told him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
9He said to me, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, because I am in great pain and still alive.’
10So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew he couldn’t live after his injury. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”
11Then David grabbed his clothes and tore them, and all the men with him did the same.
12They mourned, cried, and fasted until evening for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel, because they had died in battle.
13David asked the young man who brought the news, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite.”
14David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to harm Yahweh’s chosen king?”
15David called one of the young men and said, "Go over and strike him down!" The young man struck him, and he died.
16David said to him, "You are responsible for your own death, because you confessed that you killed Yahweh's chosen king."
17David sang a sad song about Saul and his son Jonathan.
18(David ordered the people of Judah to learn the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar.)
19"Israel, your glory was killed on your hills! How the mighty have fallen!
20Don't announce it in Gath or publish it in the streets of Ashkelon, so that the daughters of the Philistines don't celebrate, so that the daughters of the uncircumcised don't triumph.
21You mountains of Gilboa, may no dew or rain fall on you, and may there be no fields for offerings there. For there the shields of the mighty were thrown aside and ruined. Saul's shield was not rubbed with oil.
22Jonathan's bow never failed to shoot arrows through the blood of the slain and the fat of the mighty. Saul's sword never returned without striking a blow.
23Saul and Jonathan were loved and pleasant in their lives. In death, they were not separated. They were faster than eagles and stronger than lions.
24You daughters of Israel, cry for Saul, who dressed you beautifully in scarlet and adorned your clothing with gold ornaments.
25How the mighty have fallen in the middle of the battle! Jonathan was killed on your hills.
26I am heartbroken for you, my brother Jonathan. You brought me great joy. Your love for me was wonderful, exceeding the love of women.
27How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war are gone!"