2 Samuel 1:1-16
Expanded Bible
David Learns About Saul’s Death
1 Now Saul was dead. After David had ·defeated [slaughtered; been victorious over] the Amalekites, he returned to Ziklag and stayed there two days. 2 On the third day a young man from Saul’s camp came to Ziklag. ·To show his sadness, [L …and] his clothes were torn and he had dirt on his head. He came and ·bowed facedown on the ground [L fell to the ground and prostrated himself] before David.
3 David asked him, “Where did you come from?”
The man answered, “I escaped from the Israelite camp.”
4 David asked him, “·What happened [How did things go]? Please tell me!”
The man answered, “The ·people [army; men] have ·run away [fled] from the battle, and many of them have fallen and are dead. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead also.”
5 David asked him, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 The young man answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa. There I saw Saul leaning on his spear. The Philistine chariots and the ·men riding in them [charioteers; or horsemen; cavalry] were ·coming closer to Saul [closing in on him]. 7 When he looked back and saw me, he called to me. I answered him, ‘Here I am!’
8 “Then Saul asked me, ‘Who are you?’
“I told him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
9 “Then Saul said to me, ‘Please come here and ·kill me [put me out of my misery]. I am ·badly hurt [in the throes of death; L convulsions have seized me] and ·am almost dead already [yet my life still lingers].’
10 “So I ·went over [L stood beside/over him] and killed him. He had ·been hurt so badly [L fallen and] I knew he couldn’t live. Then I took the crown from his head and the ·bracelet [band] from his arm, and I have brought them here to you, my ·master [lord].”
11 Then David tore his clothes [C a sign of mourning or distress] and all the men with him did also. 12 They ·were very sad [mourned] and cried and fasted until evening. They cried for Saul and his son Jonathan and for all the people of the Lord and for all the ·Israelites [L house of Israel] who had ·died in the battle [L had fallen by the sword].
David Orders the Amalekite Killed
13 David asked the young man who brought the report, “Where are you from?”
The young man answered, “I am the son of a ·foreigner [resident alien], an Amalekite.”
14 David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to ·kill [lift your hand and destroy] the Lord’s ·appointed king [anointed]?”
15 Then David called one of his [L young] men and told him, “·Go! Kill the Amalekite [L Come, strike him down]!” So the Israelite ·killed him [L struck him down and he died]. 16 David had said to the Amalekite, “·You are responsible for your own death [L Your blood is/be on your own head]. ·You confessed [L Your own mouth has testified against you] by saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s ·appointed king [anointed].’”
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