Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience.
Day 100 and 97
now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them.
Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.
The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his
sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malkahshua.
The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught
up with him and wounded him severely.
Saul groaned to his armor bearer, Take your sword and kill me before
these pagan Philistines come to run me through, and taunt and torture me.
But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it.
So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, He fell on his own
sword and died beside the king.
So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops
all died together that same day.
When the Israelites on the other side of the Jezreel valley and beyond the Jordan
saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead,
they abandoned their towns and fled.
So, the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns.
The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they
found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa.
So they cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor.
Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul's death in their
pagan temple, and the people throughout the land of Philistia.
They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreth.
And they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Bethshan.
But when the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Bethshan and took the bodies
of Saul and his sons down from the wall.
They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies.
Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the Tamarisk tree at
Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.
After the death of Saul, David returned from his victory over the
Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag.
On the third day, a man arrived from Saul's army camp.
He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head to show that he was in mourning.
He fell to the ground before David in deep respect.
Where have you come from?
David asked.
I escaped from the Israelite camp, the man replied.
What happened?
David demanded.
Tell me how the battle went.
The man replied, Our entire army fled from the battle.
Many of the men are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.
How do you know Saul and Jonathan are dead?
David demanded of the young man.
The man answered, I happen to be on Mount Gilboa.
And there was Saul leaning on his spear, with the enemy chariots
and charioteers closing in on him.
When he turned and saw me, he cried out for me to come to him.
How can I help?
I asked him.
He responded, Who are you?
I am an Amalekite, I told him.
Then he begged me, Come over here and put me out of my misery, for I
am in terrible pain and want to die.
So I killed him, the Amalekite told David, for I knew he couldn't live.
Then I took his crown and his armband, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.
David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news.
They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan,
and for the Lord's army and the nation of Israel, because they
had died by the sword that day.
Then David said to the young man who had brought the news, Where are you from?
And he replied, I am a foreigner, an Amalekite who lives in your land.
Why were you not afraid to kill the Lord's anointed one?
David asked.
Then David said to one of his men, Kill him.
So the man thrust his sword into the Amalekite and killed him.
You have condemned yourself, David said.
For you yourself confessed that you killed the Lord's anointed one.
Then David composed a funeral song for Saul and Jonathan, and he commanded that
it be taught to the people of Judah.
It is known as the Song of the Bow, and it is recorded in the book of Jasher.
Your pride and joy, O Israel, lies dead on the hills.
Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen.
Don't announce the news in Gath.
Don't proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of
the Philistines will rejoice, and the pagans will laugh in triumph.
Oh, mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you.
Nor fruitful fields producing offerings of grain.
For there, the shield of the mighty heroes was defiled.
The shield of Saul will no longer be anointed with oil.
The bow of Jonathan was powerful and the sword of Saul did its mighty work.
They shed the blood of their enemies and pierced the bodies of mighty heroes.
How beloved and gracious were Saul and Jonathan, they were
together in life and in death.
They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.
Oh, women of Israel, weep for Saul, for he dressed you in luxurious scarlet
clothing, in garments decorated with gold.
Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen in battle.
Jonathan lies dead on the hills.
How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan.
How much I loved you, and your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women.
Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen, stripped of their weapons.
They lie dead.
After this, David asked the Lord, Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?
Yes, the Lord replied.
Then David asked, Which town should I go to?
To Hebron, the Lord answered.
David's two wives were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the
widow of Nabal, from Carmel.
So David and his wives and his men and their families all moved to Judah, and
they settled in the villages near Hebron.
Then the men of Judah came to David, and anointed him king
over the people of Judah.
When David heard that the men of Jabesh Gilead had buried Saul, he sent them
this message, May the Lord bless you for being so loyal to your master
Saul, and giving him a decent burial.
May the Lord be loyal to you in return, and reward you with his
unfailing love, and I too will reward you for what you have done.
Now that Saul is dead, I ask you to be my strong and loyal subjects
like the people of Judah, who have anointed me as their new king.
But Abner, son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, had already gone to
Mahanaim with Saul's son Ish bosheth.
There he proclaimed Ish bosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim,
Benjamin, the land of the Asherites, and all the rest of Israel.
This concludes today's Immerse Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.