1 After David returned from slaughtering the Amalekites, he stayed in Tsiklag for two days. (King Sha’ul was dead by this time.) 2 Then on the third day, wow, a man came from Sha’ul’s camp. He had torn clothes and dirt on his head, and when he got to David he fell onto his knees and bowed low. 3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him.

“I was in Israel’s camp, but managed to escape.” he replied. 4 “Why? What happened?” David demanded. “Tell me, please,”

“Our people fled from the battle,” the man said. “Many fell and died. Even Sha’ul and his son Yonatan died.”

5 “How do you know that Sha’ul and Yonatan died?” David asked the young man who’d brought the news.

6 “I happened to be on Mt. Gilboa,” the young man replied, “and listen, Sha’ul was leaning on his spear. Then wow, the chariots and the masters of the chariot horses overtook him,[ref] 7 and he turned around and saw me. He called me and I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘I’m an Amalekite,’ I told him. 9 Then he said to me, ‘Please, come over here and kill me, because although I’m still alive, the pain is unbearable.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that with those wounds, he wouldn’t live. Then I took the crown off his head and the bracelet on his arm, and I brought them here to you, my master.”

11 Then David pulled at his clothes with his hands and tore them, and all the men with him did the same, 12 and they mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Sha’ul and for his son Yonatan, and for Yahweh’s people, because many Israelis had been killed.

13 Then David asked the young man who’d brought the news, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a foreigner’s son,” he replied, “an Amalekite.” 14 “How come you weren’t afraid to kill Yahweh’s anointed king with your own hands?” David asked him. 15 Then David called to one of his young men, “Come over here and execute him.” So he struck him, and he died. 16 “Your blood’s on your own head,” David told the Amalekite, “because you admitted in your own words that you, yourself killed Yahweh’s anointed one.”