However, Saul said nothing about it ¹  that day, for he thought, ²  “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.”

Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan ¹  in order to strike him down. So Jonathan was convinced ²  that his father had decided to kill David.

David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the desert of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, ¹  but God did not deliver David ²  into his hand.

David realized ¹  that Saul had come out to seek his life; at that time David was in Horesh in the desert of Ziph.

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon?

So they left and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.

So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth. ¹ 

So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find ¹  David and his men in the region of ²  the rocks of the mountain goats. ³ 

He came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself. ¹  Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave.

(Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.)

The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding on the hill of Hakilah near ¹  Jeshimon?”

So Saul arose and went down to the desert of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand select men of Israel, to look for David in the desert of Ziph.

When Saul recognized David’s voice, he said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David replied, “Yes, it’s my voice, my lord the king.”

Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced, ¹  ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his tens of thousands’?”

So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that day.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead ¹  on Mount Gilboa.

After the death of Saul, ¹  when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, ²  he stayed at Ziklag ³  for two days.

David said to the young man ¹  who was telling him this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ² 

The young man who was telling him this ¹  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

They lamented and wept and fasted until evening because Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s people, and the house of Israel had fallen by the sword.