2 Samuel 1–20

David Hears of Saul’s Death

1After the death of Saul, when David had returned ^afrom striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. ²And on the third day, behold, ^ba man came from Saul’s camp, ^cwith his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, ^dhe fell to the ground and paid homage. ³David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴And David said to him, ^e“How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶And the young man who told him said, ^f“By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹And he said to me, ^g‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. ^hAnd I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and ⁱtore them, and so did all the men who were with him. ¹²And they mourned and wept ^jand fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴David said to him, “How is it you were not ^kafraid to put out your hand to destroy ^lthe Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵Then ^mDavid called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. ¹⁶And David said to him, ⁿ“Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed ^othe Lord’s anointed.’ ”

David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷And David ^plamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸and he said it¹ should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in ^qthe Book of Jashar.² He said:

¹⁹“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!

^rHow the mighty have fallen!

^20sTell it not in Gath,

^tpublish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,

^ulest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,

lest the daughters of ^vthe uncircumcised exult.

^21w“You mountains of Gilboa,

let there be no dew or rain upon you,

nor fields of offerings!³

For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,

the shield of Saul, not ^xanointed with oil.

²²“From the blood of the slain,

from the fat of the mighty,

^ythe bow of Jonathan turned not back,

and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

²³“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!

In life and in death they were not divided;

they were ^zswifter than eagles;

they were ^astronger than lions.

²⁴“You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,

^bwho put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

^25c“How the mighty have fallen

in the midst of the battle!

“Jonathan lies slain on your high places.

²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;

very pleasant have you been to me;

^dyour love to me was extraordinary,

surpassing the love of women.

^27c“How the mighty have fallen,

and the weapons of war perished!”

David Anointed King of Judah

2After this David ^einquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To ^fHebron.” ²So David went up there, and ^ghis two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³And David brought up ^hhis men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. ⁴And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David ⁱking over the house of Judah.

When they told David, ^j“It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” ⁵David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, ^k“May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. ⁶Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. ⁷Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and ⁱthe house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel

⁸But ^lAbner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^mMahanaim, ⁹and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. ¹⁰Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹ⁿAnd the time that David was king in Hebron over ⁱthe house of Judah was seven years and six months.

The Battle of Gibeon

¹²Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at ^othe pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” ¹⁵Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim,¹ which is at Gibeon. ¹⁷And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

¹⁸And the ^pthree sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was ^qas swift of foot as a wild gazelle. ¹⁹And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. ²⁰Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” ²¹Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. ²²And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” ²³But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him ^rin the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. ²⁶Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” ²⁷And Joab said, “As God lives, if ^syou had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” ²⁸So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.

²⁹And Abner and his men went all that night through ^tthe Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to ^uMahanaim. ³⁰Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. ³¹But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men. ³²And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.

Abner Joins David

3There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.

^2vAnd sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of ^wAhinoam of Jezreel; ³and his second, Chileab, of ^wAbigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah ^xthe daughter of Talmai king of ^yGeshur; ⁴and the fourth, ^zAdonijah 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.

⁶While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. ⁷Now Saul had a concubine whose name was ^aRizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, ^b“Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” ⁸Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I ^ca dog’s head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. ^9dGod do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David ^ewhat the Lord has sworn to him, ¹⁰to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, ^ffrom Dan to Beersheba.” ¹¹And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

¹²And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf,¹ saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to…