Saul’s Death Reported to David

¹After the death of Saul, David returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

²On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.

³“Where have you come from?” David asked.“I have escaped from the Israelite camp,” he replied.

⁴“What was the outcome?” David asked. “Please tell me.”“The troops fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”

⁵Then David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.

⁷When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I answered, ‘Here I am!’

⁸‘Who are you?’ he asked.So I told him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’

⁹Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for agony has seized me, but my life still lingers.’

¹⁰So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.

¹²They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³And David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?”“I am the son of a foreigner,” he answered. “I am an Amalekite.”

¹⁴So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”

¹⁵Then David summoned one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him!” So the young man struck him down, and he died.

¹⁶For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”

David’s Song for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

¹⁸and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow.It is written in the Book of Jashar:

¹⁹“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights.How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰Tell it not in Gath;proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

²¹O mountains of Gilboa,may you have no dew or rain,no fields yielding offerings of grain.For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

²²From the blood of the slain,from the fat of the mighty,the bow of Jonathan did not retreat,and the sword of Saul did not return empty.

²³Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life,were not divided in death.They were swifter than eagles;they were stronger than lions.

²⁴O daughters of Israel,weep for Saul,who clothed you in scarlet and luxury,who decked your garments with ornaments of gold.

²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle!Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

²⁶I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother.You were delightful to me;your love to me was extraordinary,surpassing the love of women.

²⁷How the mighty have fallen,and the weapons of war have perished!”

The Amalekites Raid Ziklag

¹On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

²They had taken captive the women and allwho were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.

³When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

⁴So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

⁵David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

⁶And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

David Destroys the Amalekites

⁷Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.”So Abiathar brought it to him,

⁸and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?”“Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”

⁹So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind

¹⁰because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.

¹¹Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat—

¹²a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.

¹³Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?”“I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

¹⁴We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

¹⁵“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked.And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁶So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

¹⁷And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

¹⁸So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.

²⁰And he took all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

The Spoils Are Divided

²¹When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,

²²but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

²³But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.

²⁴Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

²⁵And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute and ordinance for Israel to this very day.

²⁶When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

²⁷He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

²⁸to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa;

²⁹to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;

³⁰to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;

³¹and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.

David Delivers Keilah

¹Now it was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and looting the threshing floors.”

²So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?”And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”

⁴Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

⁵Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, and carried off their livestock, striking them with a mighty blow. So David saved the people of Keilah.

⁶(Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)

Saul Pursues David

⁷When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”

⁸Then Saul summoned all his troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.

⁹When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”

¹⁰And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account.

¹¹Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand?Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.”“He will,” said the LORD.

¹²So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?”“They will,” said the LORD.

¹³Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth.

¹⁴And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.

¹⁵While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.

¹⁶And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,

¹⁷saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.”

¹⁸So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.

¹⁹Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?

²⁰Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.”

²¹“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have had compassion on me.

²²Please go and prepare further. Investigate and watch carefully where he goes and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning.

²³Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.”

²⁴So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,

²⁵and Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard of this, he pursued David there.

²⁶Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.

²⁷Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!”

²⁸So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-hammahlekoth.

²⁹And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.

I Will Watch My Ways

¹I said, “I will watch my waysso that I will not sin with my tongue;I will guard my mouth with a muzzleas long as the wicked are present.”

²I was speechless and still;I remained silent, even from speaking good,and my sorrow was stirred.

³My heart grew hot within me;as I mused, the fire burned.Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“Show me, O LORD, my endand the measure of my days.Let me know how fleeting my life is.

⁵You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths,and my lifetime as nothing before You.Truly each man at his bestexists as but a breath.Selah

⁶Surely every man goes about like a phantom;surely he bustles in vain;he heaps up richesnot knowing who will haul them away.

⁷And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?My hope is in You.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions;do not make me the reproach of fools.

⁹I have become mute;I do not open my mouthbecause of what You have done.

¹⁰Remove Your scourge from me;I am perishing by the force of Your hand.

¹¹You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity,consuming like a moth what he holds dear;surely each man is but a vapor.Selah

¹²Hear my prayer, O LORD,and give ear to my cry for help;do not be deaf to my weeping.For I am a foreigner dwelling with You,a stranger like all my fathers.

¹³Turn Your gaze away from me,that I may again be cheeredbefore I depart and am no more.”