Saul

And he saith to her, `What is his form?' and she saith, `An aged man is coming up, and he is covered with an upper robe;' and Saul knoweth that he is Samuel, and boweth--face to thee earth--and doth obeisance.

And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Why hast thou troubled me, to bring me up?' And Saul saith, `I have great distress, and the Philistines are fighting against me, God hath turned aside from me, and hath not answered me any more, either by the hand of the prophets, or by dreams; and I call for thee to let me know what I do.'

And Saul hasteth and falleth--the fulness of his stature--to the earth, and feareth greatly because of the words of Samuel; also power was not in him, for he had not eaten bread all the day, and all the night.

And the woman cometh in unto Saul, and seeth that he hath been greatly troubled, and saith unto him, `Lo, thy maid-servant hath hearkened to thy voice, and I put my soul in my hand, and I obey thy words which thou hast spoken unto me;

and bringeth nigh before Saul, and before his servants, and they eat, and rise, and go on, during that night.

And the heads of the Philistines say, `What are these Hebrews?' and Achish saith unto the heads of the Philistines, `Is not this David servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have not found in him anything wrong from the day of his falling away till this day.'

Is not this David, of whom they answer in choruses, saying, Saul hath smitten among his thousands, and David among his myriads?'

and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul.

And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him--men with bow--and he is pained greatly by the archers;

and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, `Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come--these uncircumcised--and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it.

And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul is dead, and he falleth--he also--on his sword, and dieth with him;

and Saul dieth, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together.

And they see--the men of Israel, who are beyond the valley, and who are beyond the Jordan--that the men of Israel have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake the cities and flee, and Philistines come in, and dwell in them.

And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and they find Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa,

And they hear regarding it--the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead--that which the Philistines have done to Saul,

and all the men of valour arise, and go all the night, and take the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-Shan, and come in to Jabesh, and burn them there,

And it cometh to pass, after the death of Saul, that David hath returned from smiting the Amalekite, and David dwelleth in Ziklag two days,

and it cometh to pass, on the third day, that lo, a man hath come in out of the camp from Saul, and his garments are rent, and earth on his head; and it cometh to pass, in his coming in unto David, that he falleth to the earth, and doth obeisance.

And David saith unto him, `What hath been the matter? declare, I pray thee, to me.' And he saith, that `The people hath fled from the battle, and also a multitude hath fallen of the people, and they die; and also Saul and Jonathan his son have died.'

And David saith unto the youth who is declaring it to him, `How hast thou known that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?'

And the youth who is declaring it to him saith, I happened to meet in mount Gilboa, and lo, Saul is leaning on his spear; and lo, the chariots and those possessing horses have followed him;

and they mourn, and weep, and fast till the evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel, because they have fallen by the sword.

And David lamenteth with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son;

Mountains of Gilboa! No dew nor rain be on you, And fields of heave-offerings! For there hath become loathsome The shield of the mighty, The shield of Saul--without the anointed with oil.

From the blood of the wounded, From the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan Hath not turned backward; And the sword of Saul doth not return empty.