2 Samuel 1

¹²That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

¹⁰when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!

²³When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.

⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the Lord until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.

²After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

²⁵When Gehazi went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Gehazi, where have you been?” “Your servant did not go anywhere,” he replied.

¹⁵the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶“I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines hotly pursued Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.

¹⁵The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps.

⁴The Philistines gathered together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died.

⁹but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the Lord who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.”

³¹Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

²¹O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

³So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

⁶And when Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied.

¹“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

¹²“Listen now, son of Ahitub,” said Saul. “Here I am, my lord,” he replied.

⁵⁴He quickly called his armor-bearer, saying, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So Abimelech’s armor-bearer ran his sword through him, and he died.

⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

¹³Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

¹⁷And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

¹On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

³Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

⁸Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

²⁰Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”

²For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

⁵⁴He quickly called his armor-bearer, saying, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So Abimelech’s armor-bearer ran his sword through him, and he died.

¹²Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and declared, “Long live the king!”

⁷Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

³⁰Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

¹⁸So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

³¹Then the king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground. And all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

²⁹When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,

³¹Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.

³⁴Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,

¹³Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.

¹⁴I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.

⁴⁴But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

¹⁷Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

³⁵Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

⁸Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

²⁹Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?

⁸‘Who are you?’ he asked. So I told him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”

¹⁰Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.

⁶So he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”

⁸I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

¹⁵“Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”

⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

¹⁷Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

²⁵So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.

¹²He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

¹⁰when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!

¹¹How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”

⁴⁶Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.

³⁴So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness.

²⁵All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

²²His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?

⁹If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”

¹⁹If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads.

²⁵Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.

¹⁹“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

¹¹When the Canaanites of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn ceremony of mourning by the Egyptians.” Thus the place across the Jordan is called Abel-mizraim.

¹⁷This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.

¹⁸Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.

¹³So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.”

⁸Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

¹⁰The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.”

²⁷How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished!”

⁷For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

⁸And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

¹⁰Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all. Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.

⁶As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments.

²⁰Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

²¹And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”

³⁴And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.

²⁶David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

⁵They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!

¹Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

¹⁵This is what the Lord God says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.

¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the Lord your God.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

⁴And Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

⁶The sword of the Lord is bathed in blood. It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

⁷And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.

⁶Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

⁷His armor-bearer replied, “Do all that is in your heart. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

⁴²I will make My arrows drunk with blood, while My sword devours flesh—the blood of the slain and captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”

¹³Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!

¹⁸Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”

²⁶They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,

¹⁹Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.

³⁰a lion, mighty among beasts, refusing to retreat before anything;

³Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,

⁴but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.

³²Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.

¹⁶The Lord also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—

¹⁷the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”

⁹Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

¹⁰but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess to worship God.

³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’

²¹When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for they are all clothed in scarlet.

¹⁹“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

²⁷How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished!”

¹⁸Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.

¹³So Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. And the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off.

¹⁴In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in about half an acre of land.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

⁴¹When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.

¹After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself.

²And from that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house.

¹⁶And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,

²so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there.

²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

¹⁹“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

⁹He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.

⁹Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel.

¹⁰They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

¹²As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.

¹⁴When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”