2 Samuel 1:2–16

²On the third day, behold, ^aa man came out of the camp from Saul, ^bwith his clothes torn and ¹dust on his head. And it came about when he came to David that ^che fell to the ground and prostrated himself.

³Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

⁴David said to him, “^aHow did things go? Please tell me.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”

⁵So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶The young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on ^aMount Gilboa, and behold, ^bSaul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely.

⁷“When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’

⁸“He said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I ¹answered him, ‘^aI am an Amalekite.’

⁹“Then he said to me, ‘Please stand beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my ¹life still lingers in me.’

¹⁰“So I stood beside him ^aand killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And ^bI took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then ^aDavid took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him.

¹²They mourned and wept and ^afasted 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.

¹³David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he ¹answered, “^aI am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”

¹⁴Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid ^ato stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

¹⁵And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, ¹cut him down.” ^aSo he struck him and he died.

¹⁶David said to him, “^aYour blood is on your head, for ^byour mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”