2 Samuel 2:1–11

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.