2 Samuel 1:17 - 1:27

David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan

17 Then David chanted with this funeral lament over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar. 19

“Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places!

How have the mighty fallen!

Tell it not in Gath,

Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,

Lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,

Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

O mountains of Gilboa,

Let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings;

For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,

The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,

The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,

And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life,

And in their death they were not separated;

They were swifter than eagles,

They were mightier than lions.

O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,

Who put ornaments of gold on your clothing.

How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!

Jonathan is slain on your high places.

I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;

You have been very pleasant to me.

Your love to me was more wonderful

Than the love of women.

How have the mighty fallen,

And the weapons of war perished!”

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