¹ And it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag;

² it came to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

³ And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.

⁴ And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

⁵ And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?

⁶ And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and the horsemen followed hard after him.

⁷ And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.

⁸ And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

⁹ And he said unto me, Stand, I pray thee, beside me, and slay me; for anguish hath taken hold of me, because my life is yet whole in me.

¹⁰ So I stood beside him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.

¹¹ Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:

¹² and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

¹³ And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.

¹⁴ And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to put forth thy hand to destroy Jehovah's anointed?

¹⁵ And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him, so that he died.

¹⁶ And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain Jehovah's anointed.

¹⁷ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son

¹⁸ (and he bade them teach the children of Judah [the song of] the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jashar):

¹⁹ Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the mighty fallen!

²⁰ Tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

²¹ Ye mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of offerings: For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

²² From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan turned not back, And the sword of Saul returned not empty.

²³ Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided: They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.

²⁴ Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet delicately, Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

²⁵ How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places.

²⁶ I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: Very pleasant hast thou been unto me: Thy love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women.

²⁷ How are the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished!

¹ And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire,

² and had taken captive the women [and all] that were therein, both small and great: they slew not any, but carried them off, and went their way.

³ And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive.

⁴ Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

⁵ And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

⁸ And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? And he answered him, pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake [them], and shalt without fail recover [all].

⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.

¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

¹¹ And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they gave him water to drink.

¹² And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

¹³ And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

¹⁴ We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongeth to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

¹⁵ And David said to him, Wilt thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

¹⁶ And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

¹⁷ And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels and fled.

¹⁸ And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives.

¹⁹ And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David brought back all.

²⁰ And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other] cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

²¹ And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.

²² Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away, and depart.

²³ Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given unto us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.

²⁴ And who will hearken unto you in this matter? for as his share is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his share be that tarrieth by the baggage: they shall share alike.

²⁵ And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

²⁶ And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:

²⁷ To them that were in Beth-el, and to them that were in Ramoth of the South, and to them that were in Jattir,

²⁸ and to them that were in Aroer, and to them that were in Siphmoth, and to them that were in Eshtemoa,

²⁹ and to them that were in Racal, and to them that were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them that were in the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰ and to them that were in Hormah, and to them that were in Bor-ashan, and to them that were in Athach,

³¹ and to them that were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.