The Daily Audio Bible

David Mourns for Saul and Jonathan

1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amal′ekites, David remained two days in Ziklag; ² and on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and did obeisance. ³ David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵ Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilbo′a; and there was Saul leaning upon his spear; and lo, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷ And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amal′ekite.’ ⁹ And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and slay me; for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰ So I stood beside him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen; and I took the crown which was on his head and the armlet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes, and rent them; and so did all the men who were with him; ¹² and they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amal′ekite.” ¹⁴ David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, fall upon him.” And he smote him so that he died. ¹⁶ And David said to him, “Your blood be upon your head; for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have slain the Lord’s anointed.’”

¹⁷ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he said it^[a] should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.^[b] He said:

David Anointed King of Judah

2 After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” ² So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahin′o-am of Jezre′el, and Ab′igail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³ And David brought up his men who were with him, every one with his household; and they dwelt in the towns of Hebron. ⁴ And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

When they told David, “It was the men of Ja′besh-gil′ead who buried Saul,” ⁵ David sent messengers to the men of Ja′besh-gil′ead, and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord, and buried him! ⁶ Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. ⁷ Now 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 Now Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bo′sheth^[e] the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahana′im; ⁹ and he made him king over Gilead and the Ash′urites and Jezre′el and E′phraim and Benjamin and all Israel. ¹⁰ Ish-bo′sheth, 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 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ²¹ So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-sa′ida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify thy name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. 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 shall the ruler of this world be cast out; ³² and I, when I am lifted up^[a] from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” ³³ He said this to show by what death he was to die. ³⁴ The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?” ³⁵ Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him; ³⁸ it was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him. ⁴² Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: ⁴³ for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Summary of Jesus’ Teaching

⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ And he who sees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸ He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. ⁴⁹ For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me.”