On the next day, the Philistines came to rob the dead, and found that Saul and his three sons had fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers through all the land of the Philistines to bring the good news to their idols and to the people. And they put his armor in the temple of Ashtarte and fastened his body on the wall of Bethshan. When the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, their brave men rose up and marched all night, and they took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Bethshan and brought them to Jabesh and mourned over them there. Then they took their bones and buried them under the oak-tree in Jabesh and ate no food for seven days. On the third day after David returned to Ziklag, after defeating the Amalekites, a man came from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and with earth upon his head. When he came to David, he fell on the ground before him. David said to him, "Where do you come from?" He answered, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel." David said to him, "How did the battle go? Tell me." He answered, "The people fled from the battle-field, and many of them fell, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead!" Then David and all the men who were with him tore their clothes and mourned and wept and went without food until evening, because Saul and Jonathan his son and the people of Jehovah had fallen by the sword. David then sang this dirge over Saul and Jonathan: "Weep, O Judah! Grieve, O Israel! On your heights are the slain! How the mighty have fallen! "Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were never parted; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions. "O Jonathan, your death has mortally wounded me, O Jonathan, my brother, for you I am sorrowing. You were ever a friend to me most dear, Your love meant far more than the love of women! "How the mighty have fallen, And the weapons of war vanished!" A SHEPHERD BOY WHO WAS CALLED TO LEAD A NATION After this David asked of Jehovah, "Shall I go up into one of the towns of Judah?" Jehovah answered, "Go up." When David asked, "To which shall I go?" he said, "To Hebron." So David went up with his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail. And David brought the men who were with him, each with his family, and they lived in the towns about Hebron. Then the men of Judah came there and made David ruler over the people of Judah.