2 Samuel 1:6-21

6The young man said, ‘I was on Gilboa mountain. I saw Saul there. He had to use his spear like a stick to help him to stand. The enemy army with its horses and chariots were getting very near to him.

7Saul turned round and he saw me. He shouted to me and I said, “Here I am, sir.”

8He asked me, “Who are you?” I said to him, “I am an Amalekite.”

9He said to me, “Stand over me and kill me. I have a lot of pain and I am almost dead.”

10I knew that he would soon fall down. He was too weak to live. So I stood over him and I killed him. Then I took the crown from his head and the ring that was on his arm. I have brought them here to you, my lord.’

11Then David tore his clothes because he was very upset. The men who were with him did the same thing.

12They cried and they wept until the evening. They did not eat any food. They were very upset about Saul and Jonathan, and all the Lord's people. They were sad because so many Israelites had died in the battle.

13David asked the young man who had brought the report to him, ‘Where are you from?’ The man replied, ‘I am an Amalekite, the son of a foreign man who lives in Israel.’

14David said to him, ‘The Lord had chosen Saul to be Israel's king. You should have been very afraid to kill him!’

15Then David said to one of his own young men, ‘Go and knock him down!’ So the man knocked him down so that he died.

16David had said to the Amalekite, ‘You deserve to die because of what you have said. Your own words show that you did a bad thing. You yourself said, “I have killed the Lord's chosen king.” ’

17David sang this song to remember the death of Saul and his son Jonathan.

18He said that the people in Judah should learn this song. Its name is ‘The Bow’. It is written down in the Book of Jashar.

19‘The greatest men of Israel now lie on the mountains. They are dead! Those brave men have fallen to the ground!

20Do not tell the people in Gath about it. Do not tell the news in the streets of Ashkelon. If you do, the daughters of the Philistines will sing with joy. Yes, those foreign people who do not worship God will be happy.

21You mountains of Gilboa, I hope that no rain or dew will come on you now. I pray that no crops will grow in your fields to make grain offerings. In those fields, the shields of brave soldiers became useless. No longer will anyone clean Saul's shield with oil.