Daily Text and Bible Reading: Sunday, April 6 [Press play below]

1.1 After Saul’s death, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David stayed at Ziklag for two days.
1.2 On the third day, a man came from the camp of Saul with his garments ripped apart and dirt on his head. When he approached David, he fell down to the ground and prostrated himself.
1.3 David asked him: “Where are you coming from?” He replied: “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
1.4 David asked him: “How did things turn out? Please tell me.” To this he said: “The people have fled from the battle and many have fallen and died. Even Saul and his son Jonathan have died.”
1.5 Then David asked the young man who brought him the news: “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
1.6 The young man replied: “By chance I was on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul supporting himself on his spear, and the chariots and horsemen had caught up with him.
1.7 When he turned around and saw me, he called me, and I said, ‘Here I am!’
1.8 He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I replied, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
1.9 Then he said, ‘Please stand over me and put me to death, for I am in great agony, but I am still alive.’
1.10 So I stood over him and put him to death, for I knew that he could not survive after he had fallen down wounded. Then I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and I brought them here to my lord.”
1.11 At this David took hold of his garments and ripped them apart, and so did all the men who were with him.
1.12 And they wailed and wept and fasted until evening for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
1.13 David asked the young man who brought him the news: “Where are you from?” He said: “I am the son of a foreign resident, an Amalekite.”
1.14 Then David said to him: “Why did you not fear to lift your hand to do away with the anointed of Jehovah?”
1.15 With that David called one of the young men and said: “Step forward and strike him.” So he struck him down, and he died.
1.16 David said to him: “Your blood is on your own head, because your own mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I myself put the anointed of Jehovah to death.’”
1.17 Then David chanted this dirge over Saul and his son Jonathan
1.18 and said that the people of Judah should be taught the dirge called “The Bow,” which is written in the book of Jashar:
1.19 “The beauty, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places. How the mighty have fallen!
1.20 Do not tell it in Gath; Do not announce it in the streets of Ashkelon, Or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, Or the daughters of the uncircumcised men will exult.
1.21 You mountains of Gilboa, May there be no dew or rain upon you, Nor fields producing holy contributions, Because there the shield of mighty ones was defiled, The shield of Saul is no longer anointed with oil.
1.22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of mighty ones, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul would not return without success.
1.23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished during their life, And in death they were not separated. Swifter than the eagles they were, Mightier than the lions.
1.24 O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet and finery, Who put gold ornaments upon your clothing.
1.25 How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places!
1.26 I am distressed over you, my brother Jonathan; You were very dear to me. More wonderful was your love to me than the love of women.
1.27 How the mighty have fallen And the weapons of war have perished!”

2.1 Afterward David inquired of Jehovah, saying: “Should I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” Jehovah said to him: “Go up.” David then asked: “Where should I go?” He replied: “To Hebron.”
2.2 So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
2.3 David also brought the men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the cities around Hebron.
2.4 Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David as king over the house of Judah. They told David: “The men of Jabesh-gilead were the ones who buried Saul.”
2.5 So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them: “May you be blessed by Jehovah, because you showed loyal love to your lord Saul by burying him.
2.6 May Jehovah show loyal love and faithfulness to you. I will also show you kindness because you have done this.
2.7 Now let your hands be strong and be courageous men, for your lord Saul is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me as king over them.”
2.8 But Abner the son of Ner, the chief of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and brought him across to Mahanaim
2.9 and made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and over all Israel.
2.10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was 40 years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, supported David.
2.11 The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
2.12 In time Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
2.13 Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and encountered them at the pool of Gibeon; and one group sat on this side of the pool, and the other group on that side of the pool.
2.14 Finally Abner said to Joab: “Let the young men get up and engage in combat before us.” To this Joab said: “Let them get up.”
2.15 So they got up and crossed over by number, 12 for Benjamin and Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and 12 from the servants of David.
2.16 They grabbed one another by the head and each of them thrust his sword into the side of his opponent, and they all fell down together. So that place, which is in Gibeon, was called Helkath-hazzurim.
2.17 The fighting that ensued was extremely fierce that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were finally defeated before the servants of David.
2.18 Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there—Joab, Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was as swift on his feet as a gazelle in the open field.
2.19 Asahel chased after Abner, and he would not veer to the right or to the left in his pursuit of Abner.
2.20 When Abner looked behind, he asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” to which he replied, “Yes, it is.”
2.21 Then Abner said to him: “Veer to your right or to your left and capture one of the young men, and take whatever you strip off him for yourself.” But Asahel did not want to stop chasing him.
2.22 So Abner said to Asahel once again: “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?”
2.23 But he kept refusing to stop, so Abner struck him in the abdomen with the butt end of the spear, and the spear came out from his back; and he fell there and died on the spot. Everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell and died would stop and pause there.
2.24 Then Joab and Abishai went in pursuit of Abner. As the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, which faces Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
2.25 And the Benjaminites gathered together behind Abner, and they formed one company and made a stand on the top of a certain hill.
2.26 Then Abner called out to Joab: “Is the sword going to devour endlessly? Do you not know that the outcome will only be bitterness? How long, then, will it be before you tell the people to turn back from pursuing their brothers?”
2.27 At that Joab said: “As surely as the true God is living, if you had not spoken, then only by the morning would the people have stopped pursuing their brothers.”
2.28 Joab now blew the horn, and his men stopped chasing after Israel, and the fighting ceased.
2.29 Abner and his men then marched through the Arabah all that night and crossed the Jordan and marched through the entire ravine and finally came to Mahanaim.
2.30 After Joab turned back from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the people together. Of David’s servants, 19 were missing, in addition to Asahel.
2.31 But the servants of David had defeated the Benjaminites and the men of Abner, and 360 of their men had died.
2.32 They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb, which is at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night long, and they reached Hebron at daybreak.