2 Samuel 1–20

Chapter 1

¹And it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David abode two days in Ziklag. ²And it came to pass on the third day, that behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his garments rent, and earth upon his head; and as soon as he came to David, he fell to the earth and did obeisance. ³And David said to him, Whence comest thou? And he said to him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. ⁴And David said to him, What has taken place? I pray thee, tell me. And he said that the people had fled from the battle, and many of the people also had fallen and died, and that Saul and Jonathan his son were dead also. ⁵And David said to the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead? ⁶And the young man that told him said, I happened by chance to be upon mount Gilboa, and behold, Saul leaned on his spear; and behold, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. ⁷And he looked behind him, and saw me, and called to me. And I said, Here am I. ⁸And he said to me, Who art thou? And I said to him, I am an Amalekite. ⁹He said to me again, Stand, I pray thee, over me, and slay me; for anguish has seized me; for my life is yet whole in me. ¹⁰So I stood over him, and put him to death, for I knew that he would not live after his fall; and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to my lord.

¹¹Then David took hold of his garments and rent them; and all the men that were with him did likewise. ¹²And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. ¹³And David said to the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he said, I am the son of an Amalekite stranger. ¹⁴And David said to him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thy hand to destroy Jehovah’s anointed? ¹⁵Then David called one of the young men and said, Draw near, and fall on him. And he smote him that he died. ¹⁶And David said to him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain Jehovah’s anointed.

¹⁷And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son; ¹⁸and he bade them teach the children of Judah the song of the bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher: — ¹⁹The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! ²⁰Tell it not in Gath, carry not the tidings in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. ²¹Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, no rain upon you, nor fields of heave-offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Saul, as not anointed with oil. ²²From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan turned not back, And the sword of Saul returned not empty. ²³Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their lives, Even in their death were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. ²⁴Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet with splendour, Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel. ²⁵How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places. ²⁶I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant wast thou unto me; Thy love to me was wonderful, passing women’s love. ²⁷How are the mighty fallen, and the instruments of war perished!

Chapter 2

¹And it came to pass after this that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. ²So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ³And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household; and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. ⁴And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, It is the men of Jabesh-Gilead that have buried Saul. ⁵And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of Jehovah, that ye have shewn this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him! ⁶And now Jehovah shew kindness and faithfulness to you; and I also will requite you this good, because ye have done this thing. ⁷And now let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.

⁸And Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; ⁹and made him king over Gilead, and over the Asshurites, and over Jizreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. ¹⁰Ishbosheth Saul’s son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. However, the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. ¹²And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out. And they met together by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, these on the one side of the pool, and those on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise and make sport before us. And Joab said, Let them arise. ¹⁵And they arose and went over by number, twelve for Benjamin, and for Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side, and they fell down together. And that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is by Gibeon. ¹⁷And the battle that day was very severe; and Abner and the men of Israel were routed before the servants of David.

¹⁸And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift of foot, as one of the gazelles that are in the field. ¹⁹And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from behind Abner. ²⁰Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he said, I am. ²¹And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside, to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay hold of one of the young men, and take for thyself his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. ²²And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: why should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? ²³But he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the belly, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place. And it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still. ²⁴And Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner; and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of a hill. ²⁶And Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? and how long shall it be ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? ²⁷And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. ²⁸And Joab blew the trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither did they fight any more. ²⁹And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim. ³⁰And Joab returned from following Abner, and gathered all the people together; and there lacked of David’s servants nineteen men, and Asahel. ³¹And the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner’s men, three hundred and sixty men, who had died. ³²And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.

Chapter 3

¹And the war was long between the house of Saul and the house of David; but David became continually stronger, and the house of Saul became continually weaker. ²And to David were sons born in Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jizreelitess; ³and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maachah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; ⁴and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; ⁵and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah David’s wife. These were born to David in Hebron. ⁶And it came to pass while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul.

⁷And Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why hast thou gone in to my father’s concubine? ⁸Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Am I a dog’s head, I who against Judah do shew kindness this day to the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, that thou reproachest me this day with the fault of this woman? ⁹So do God to Abner, and more also, if, as Jehovah has sworn to David, I do not so to him; ¹⁰to translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-sheba! ¹¹And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he feared him. ^…