2 Samuel 1

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 After the death of Saul, David returned from his defeat of the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag.	1 Now it happened that, after Saul died, David returned from the slaughter of Amalek, and he remained for two days at Ziklag.
2 On the third day a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. Going to David, he fell to the ground in homage.	2 Then, on the third day, a man appeared, arriving from the camp of Saul, with his garments torn and dust sprinkled on his head. And when he came to David, he fell on his face, and he reverenced.
3 David asked him, "Where do you come from?" He replied, "I have escaped from the Israelite camp."	3 And David said to him, “Where have you come from?” And he said to him, “I have fled from the camp of Israel.”
4 "Tell me what happened," David bade him. He answered that the soldiers had fled the battle and that many of them had fallen and were dead, among them Saul and his son Jonathan.	4 And David said to him: “What is the word that has happened? Reveal it to me.” And he said: “The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people have fallen and died. Moreover, Saul and his son Jonathan have passed away.”
5 Then David said to the youth who was reporting to him, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"	5 And David said to the youth who was reporting to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan have died?”
6 The youthful informant replied: "It was by chance that I found myself on Mount Gilboa and saw Saul leaning on his spear, with chariots and horsemen closing in on him.	6 And the youth, who was reporting it to him, said: “I arrived by chance on mount Gilboa. And Saul was lying upon his spear. Then the chariots and horsemen drew near to him.
7 He turned around and, seeing me, called me to him. When I said, 'Here I am,'	7 And turning behind his back and seeing me, he called to me. And when I had responded, “I am here,”
8 he asked me, 'Who are you?' and I replied, 'An Amalekite.'	8 he said to me, “Who are you?” And I said to him, “I am an Amalekite.”
9 Then he said to me, 'Stand up to me, please, and finish me off, for I am in great suffering, yet fully alive.'	9 And he said to me: “Stand over me, and kill me. For anguish has taken hold of me, and still my whole life is in me.”
10 So I stood up to him and dispatched him, for I knew that he could not survive his wound. I removed the crown from his head and the armlet from his arm and brought them here to my lord."	10 And standing over him, I killed him. For I knew that he was not able to live after the fall. And I took the diadem that was on his head, and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”
11 David seized his garments and rent them, and all the men who were with him did likewise.	11 Then David, taking hold of his garments, tore them, with all the men who were with him.
12 They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the soldiers of the LORD of the clans of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.	12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, over Saul and over his son Jonathan, and over the people of the Lord and over the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 Then David said to the young man who had brought him the information, "Where are you from?" He replied, "I am the son of an Amalekite immigrant."	13 And David said to the youth who had reported it to him, “Where are you from?” And he responded, “I am the son of a man who is a new arrival from the Amalekites.”
14 David said to him, "How is it that you were not afraid to put forth your hand to desecrate the LORD'S anointed?"	14 And David said to him, “Why were you not afraid to put forth your hand, so that you would kill the Christ of the Lord?”
15 David then called one of the attendants and said to him, "Come, strike him down"; and the youth struck him a mortal blow.	15 And calling one of his servants, David said, “Draw near and rush against him” And he struck him, and he died.
16 Meanwhile David said to him, "You are responsible for your own death, for you testified against yourself when you said, 'I dispatched the LORD'S anointed.'"	16 And David said to him: “Your blood is upon your own head. For your own mouth has spoken against you, saying: ‘I have killed the Christ of the Lord.’ ”
17 Then David chanted this elegy for Saul and his son Jonathan,	17 Then David mourned a lamentation over Saul and over his son Jonathan, in this way.
18 which is recorded in the Book of Jashar to be taught to the Judahites. He sang:	18 (And he instructed that they should teach the sons of Judah the bow, just as it is written in the Book of the Just.) And he said: “Consider, O Israel, on behalf of those who are dead, wounded upon your heights:
19 "Alas! the glory of Israel, Saul, slain upon your heights; how can the warriors have fallen!	19 The illustrious of Israel have been killed upon your mountains. How could the valiant have fallen?
20 "Tell it not in Gath, herald it not in the streets of Ashkelon, Lest the Philistine maidens rejoice, lest the daughters of the strangers exult!	20 Do not choose to announce it in Gath, and do not announce it in the crossroads of Ashkelon. Otherwise, the daughters of the Philistines may rejoice; otherwise, the daughters of the uncircumcised may exult.
21 Mountains of Gilboa, may there be neither dew nor rain upon you, nor upsurgings of the deeps! Upon you lie begrimed the warriors' shields, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.	21 O mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew, nor rain fall over you, and may these not be the fields of the first-fruits. For in that place, the shield of the valiant was cast away, the shield of Saul, as if he had not been anointed with oil.
22 "From the blood of the slain, from the bodies of the valiant, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, or the sword of Saul return unstained.	22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the strong, the arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished, separated neither in life nor in death, swifter than eagles, stronger than lions!	23 Saul and Jonathan, worthy to be loved, and stately in their life: even in death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.
24 Women of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and in finery, who decked your attire with ornaments of gold.	24 O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet finery, who offered ornaments of gold for your adornment.
25 "How can the warriors have fallen-- in the thick of the battle, slain upon your heights!	25 How could the valiant have fallen in battle? How could Jonathan have been slain on the heights?
26 "I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother! most dear have you been to me; More precious have I held love for you than love for women.	26 I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan: exceedingly stately, and worthy to be loved above the love of women. As a mother loves her only son, so also did I love you.
27 "How can the warriors have fallen, the weapons of war have perished!"	27 How could the robust have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished?”