The Daily Audio Bible

David Mourns for Saul and Jonathan

1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.^{(A) 2} On the third day, a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did obeisance.^{(B) 3} David said to him, “Where have you come from?” He said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ David said to him, “How did things go? Tell me!” He answered, “The army fled from the battle, but also many of the army fell and died, and Saul and his son Jonathan also died.” ⁵ Then David asked the young man who was reporting to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan died?” ⁶ The young man reporting to him said, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, while the chariots and the horsemen drew close to him.^{(C) 7} When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. I answered, ‘Here, sir.’ ⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’^{(D) 9} He said to me, ‘Come, stand over me and kill me, for convulsions have seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰ So I stood over him and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”^(E)

¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.^{(F) 12} They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathan and for the army of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had been struck down^[a] by the sword.^{(G) 13} David said to the young man who had reported to him, “Where do you come from?” He answered, “I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite.”^{(H) 14} David said to him, “Were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”^{(I) 15} Then David called one of the young men and said, “Come here and strike him down.” So he struck him down, and he died.^{(J) 16} David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”^(K)

¹⁷ David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan.^{(L) 18} (He ordered that The Song of the Bow^[b] be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said,^(M)

David Anointed King of Judah

2 After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” The Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” He said, “To Hebron.”^{(V) 2} So David went up there, along with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.^{(W) 3} David brought up the men who were with him, every one with his household, and they settled in the towns of Hebron.^{(X) 4} Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

When they told David, “It was the people of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,”^{(Y) 5} David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him!^{(Z) 6} Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I, too, will reward you because you have done this thing. ⁷ Therefore let your hands be strong and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ishbaal King of Israel

⁸ But Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbaal^[d] son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. ⁹ He made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel.^{(AA) 10} Ishbaal,^[e] Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹ The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.^(AB)

Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.^{(A) 21} They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.^{(B) 24} Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.^{(C) 26} Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.^(D)

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.^{(E) 28} Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”^{(F) 29} The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.^{(G) 32} And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people^[a] to myself.”^{(H) 33} He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. ³⁴ The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah^[b] remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”^{(I) 35} Jesus said to them, “The light is in you^[c] for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.^{(J) 37} Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

³⁹ And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because^[d] he saw his glory and spoke about him.^{(M) 42} Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue,^{(N) 43} for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

Summary of Jesus’s Teaching

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.^{(O) 45} And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.^{(P) 46} I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.^{(Q) 47} I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world.^{(R) 48} The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge,^{(S) 49} for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”