9 Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded,A but my life still lingers.’g 10 So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn’t survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”

11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them,h and all the men with him did the same. 12 They mourned, wept, and fasted until the eveningi for those who died by the sword—for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s people, and the house of Israel.

13 David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?”

“I’m the son of a resident alien,” he said. “I’m an Amalekite.”

14 David questioned him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”j 15 Then David summoned one of his servants and said, “Come here and kill him!” The servant struck him, and he died.k 16 For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your own headl because your own mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”