2 Samuel 1

¹Now after the death of Saul, when David, having come back from the destruction of the Amalekites, had been in Ziklag for two days;

²On the third day a man came from Saul's tents, with his clothing out of order and earth on his head: and when he came to David, he went down on the earth and gave him honour.

³And David said to him, Where have you come from? And he said, I have come in flight from the tents of Israel.

⁴And David said to him, How did things go? Give me the news. And in answer he said, The people have gone in flight from the fight, and a great number of them are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.

⁵And David said to the young man who gave him the news, Why are you certain that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?

⁶And the young man said, I came by chance to Mount Gilboa, and I saw Saul supporting himself on his spear; and the war-carriages and horsemen overtook him.

⁷And looking back, he saw me and gave a cry to me. And answering him I said, Here am I.

⁸And he said to me, Who are you? And I said, I am an Amalekite.

⁹Then he said to me, Come here to my side, and put me to death, for the pain of death has me in its grip but my life is still strong in me.

¹⁰So I put my foot on him and gave him his death-blow, because I was certain that he would not go on living after his fall: and I took the crown from his head and the band from his arm, and I have them here for my lord.

¹¹Then David gave way to bitter grief, and so did all the men who were with him: