²³ Saul and Jonathan! They are loved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they have not been parted. Than eagles they have been lighter, Than lions they have been mightier!

¹³ Lo, as clouds he cometh up, And as a hurricane his chariots, Lighter than eagles have been his horses, Wo to us, for we have been spoiled.

¹⁸ And the men of the city say to him on the seventh day, before the sun goeth in: -- `What `is' sweeter than honey? And what stronger than a lion?' And he saith to them: `Unless ye had ploughed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle.'

⁴⁹ `Jehovah doth lift up against thee a nation, from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle it flieth; a nation whose tongue thou hast not heard,

¹⁹ Swifter have been our pursuers, Than the eagles of the heavens, On the mountains they have burned `after' us, In the wilderness they have laid wait for us.

³⁰ An old lion -- mighty among beasts, That turneth not back from the face of any,

²⁶ They have passed on with ships of reed, As an eagle darteth on food.

⁸ And of the Gadite there have been separated unto David, to the fortress, to the wilderness, mighty of valour, men of the host for battle, setting in array target and buckler, and their faces the face of the lion, and as roes on the mountains for speed:

²⁰ And Benaiah son of Jehoiada (son of a man of valour, great in deeds from Kabzeel), he hath smitten two lion-like men of Moab, and he hath gone down and smitten the lion in the midst of the pit in a day of snow.

¹⁸ And there are there three sons of Zeruiah, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel, and Asahel `is' light on his feet, as one of the roes which `are' in the field,

¹ And the Philistines are fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa,

² and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul.

³ And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him -- men with bow -- and he is pained greatly by the archers;

⁴ and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, `Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come -- these uncircumcised -- and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it.

⁵ And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul `is' dead, and he falleth -- he also -- on his sword, and dieth with him;

² And he saith to him, `Far be it! thou dost not die; lo, my father doth not do anything great or small and doth not uncover mine ear; and wherefore doth my father hide from me this thing? this `thing' is not.'

¹ And it cometh to pass, when he finisheth to speak unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan hath been bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loveth him as his own soul.