12 which the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-shan, and came 13 to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. CHAP. I.-Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, 1 when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David remained two days in Ziklag. And it came 2 to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his garments rent, and earth upon his head; and when he came to David, he fell to the ground, and did obeisance. And David said unto him, 3 "From whence comest thou?" And he said unto him, "Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped." And David 4 said unto him, "How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me." And he answered, that the people had fled from the battle, and many of the people also were fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son were dead also. me. And David said unto the young man that told him, "How 5 knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?" And the young man that told him said, "As I happened to 6 be upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed closely after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto 7 And I answered, 'Here am I.' And he said unto me, 8 'Who art thou?' And I answered him, 'I am an Amalekite.' He said unto me again, 'Stand, I pray thee, upon 9 me, and slay me; for faintness hath seized me; for my life is yet whole in me.' So I stood upon him, and slew him, 10 because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen; and I took the crown that was upon his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord." Then David took hold of his garments, and rent them; 11 12 and likewise all the men that were with him and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. 13 And David said unto the young man that told him, "Whence art thou?" And he answered, "I am the son of 14 a stranger, an Amalekite." And David said unto him, "How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thy hand to 15 destroy the anointed of Jehovah ?" And David called one of the young men, and said, "Draw near, and fall upon 16 him." And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, "Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, 'I have slain the anointed of Jehovah."" 17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and 18 over Jonathan his son (he also bade them teach the children of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jasher) : The antelope, O Israel, is slain on thy high places; Tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in the streets of Askelon, Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, Neither rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the The bow of Jonathan turned not back, And the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet, delightfully, Who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan : Very pleasant hast thou been unto me; Wonderful was thy love to me, surpassing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, رو up." And the weapons of war perished! 27 1 CHAP. II.—And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of Jehovah, saying, "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?" And Jehovah said unto him, "Go ." And David said, "Whither shall I go up?" And he said, "Unto Hebron." So David went up thither, and his 2 two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And his men that were with him 3 did David bring up, every man with his household; and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. And the men of Judah 4 came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, "The men of Jabesh-gilead, were they that buried Saul." And David sent messengers 5 unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto him, "Blessed be ye of Jehovah, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. And now 6 Jehovah shew kindness and truth unto you; and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing. Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye 7 valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them." But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took s Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; and made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashur- 9 ites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. Ish-bosheth Saul's son was forty years 10 old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. And the 11 time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish- 12 bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, 13 went out; and they met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. And Abner said to 14 Joab, "Let the young men now arise, and play before us." 15 And Joab said, "Let them arise." Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, who belonged to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of 16 David. And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzarim 17 [FIELD OF ADVERSARIES], which is in Gibeon. And there was a very hard battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David. 18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was light of foot as a 19 wild antelope. And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from 20 following Abner. Then Abner looked behind him, and said, 21 "Art thou Asahel?" And he answered, "I am." And Abner said to him, "Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take his armour." But Asahel would not turn aside from 22 following him. And Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn thee aside from following me; wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy 23 brother?" Howbeit he refused to turn aside; wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the belly, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that all who came to the place where Asahel fell down and died 24 stood still. And Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner; and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one band, and stood on the 26 top of a hill. Then Abner called to Joab, and said, "Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, before thou bid the people return from following their 27 brethren?" And Joab said, "As God liveth, hadst thou not spoken, surely then in the morning the people had 28 gone up every one from following his brother." So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. 29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over the Jordan, and went through |