2 Samuel 4–5

THE ASSASSINATION OF ISH-BOSHETH

4When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he gave up,^A and all Israel was dismayed. ²Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties: one named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the Benjaminites. Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin, ³and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and still reside there as aliens today.

⁴Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.ⁱ

⁵Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at Ish-bosheth’s house during the heat of the day while the king was taking his midday nap. ⁶They entered the interior of the house as if to get wheat and stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. ⁷They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom and stabbed and killed him. They removed his head, took it, and traveled by way of the Arabah^j all night. ⁸They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here’s the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who intended to take your life. Today the Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

⁹But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, the one who has redeemed my life from every distress,^{k 10}when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag.^l That was my reward to him for his news! ¹¹How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house on his own bed! So now, should I not require his blood from you and purge you from the earth?”^m

¹²So David gave orders to the young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.ⁿ

DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL

5All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron^a and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.^{Bb 2}Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back.^c The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’ ”

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them^d at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he began his reign;^e he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites^f who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David, “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

⁷Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.^{g 8}He said that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind who are despised by David.”^A For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the house.”^B

⁹David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward. ¹⁰David became more and more powerful,^h and the Lord God of Armies was with him.^{i 11}King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons,^j and they built a palace for David. ¹²Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴These are the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan,^k Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.^l

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel,^m they all went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.^{n 18}So the Philistines came and spread out in Rephaim Valley.

¹⁹Then David inquired of the Lord:^o “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord replied to David, “Attack, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.”

²⁰So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, “Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.”^p Therefore, he named that place The Lord Bursts Out. ²¹The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

²²The Philistines came up again and spread out in Rephaim Valley. ²³So David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not attack directly, but circle around behind them and come at them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord will have gone out ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”^{q 25}So David did exactly as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.