17-18 Then David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, and gave orders that everyone in Judah learn it by heart. Yes, it’s even inscribed in The Book of Jashar.

19-21 Oh, oh, Gazelles of Israel, struck down on your hills,
    the mighty warriors—fallen, fallen!
Don’t announce it in the city of Gath,
    don’t post the news in the streets of Ashkelon.
Don’t give those coarse Philistine girls
    one more excuse for a drunken party!
No more dew or rain for you, hills of Gilboa,
    and not a drop from springs and wells,
For there the warriors’ shields were dragged through the mud,
    Saul’s shield left there to rot.

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18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):(A)

19 “A gazelle[a] lies slain on your heights, Israel.
    How the mighty(B) have fallen!(C)

20 “Tell it not in Gath,(D)
    proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,(E)
lest the daughters of the Philistines(F) be glad,
    lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 1:19 Gazelle here symbolizes a human dignitary.