2 Samuel 4–5

Ishbosheth Is Murdered

4When Saul’s son Ishbosheth heard that Abner had been killed in Hebron, he was afraid, and all the people of Israel were alarmed. ²Ishbosheth had two officers who were leaders of raiding parties, Baanah and Rechab, sons of Rimmon, from Beeroth in the tribe of Benjamin. (Beeroth is counted as part of Benjamin. ³Its original inhabitants had fled to Gittaim, where they have lived ever since.)

^4*Another descendant of Saul was Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was five years old when Saul and Jonathan were killed. When the news about their death came from the city of Jezreel, his nurse picked him up and fled; but she was in such a hurry that she dropped him, and he became crippled.

⁵Rechab and Baanah set out for Ishbosheth’s house and arrived there about noon, while he was taking his midday rest. ⁶The woman at the door had become drowsy while she was sifting wheat and had fallen asleep, so Rechab and Baanah slipped in.^{e 7}Once inside, they went to Ishbosheth’s bedroom, where he was sound asleep, and killed him. Then they cut off his head, took it with them, and walked all night through the Jordan Valley. ⁸They presented the head to King David at Hebron and said to him, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul, who tried to kill you. Today the Lord has allowed Your Majesty to take revenge on Saul and his descendants.”

⁹David answered them, “I make a vow by the living Lord, who has saved me from all dangers! ^10*The messenger who came to me at Ziklag and told me of Saul’s death thought he was bringing good news. I seized him and had him put to death. That was the reward I gave him for his good news! ¹¹How much worse it will be for evil men who murder an innocent man asleep in his own house! I will now take revenge on you for murdering him and will wipe you off the face of the earth!” ¹²David gave the order, and his soldiers killed Rechab and Baanah and cut off their hands and feet, which they hung up near the pool in Hebron. They took Ishbosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb there at Hebron.

David Becomes King of Israel and Judah

5^*Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said to him, “We are your own flesh and blood. ^2*In the past, even when Saul was still our king, you led the people of Israel in battle, and the Lord promised you that you would lead his people and be their ruler.” ^3*So all the leaders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them, they anointed him, and he became king of Israel. ^4*David was 30 years old when he became king, and he ruled for 40 years. ^5*He ruled in Hebron over Judah for seven and a half years, and in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah for 33 years.

^6*The time came when King David and his men set out to attack Jerusalem. The Jebusites, who lived there, thought that David would not be able to conquer the city, and so they said to him, “You will never get in here; even the blind and the crippled could keep you out.” ⁷(But David did capture their fortress of Zion, and it became known as “David’s City”.)

⁸That day David said to his men, “Does anybody here hate the Jebusites as much as I do? Enough to kill them? Then go up through the water tunnel and attack those poor blind cripples.” (That is why it is said, “The blind and the crippled cannot enter the Lord’s house.”)^f

⁹After capturing the fortress, David lived in it and named it “David’s City”. He built the city round it, starting at the place where land was filled in on the east side of the hill. ¹⁰He grew stronger all the time, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

¹¹King Hiram of Tyre sent a trade mission to David; he provided him with cedar logs and with carpenters and stonemasons to build a palace. ¹²And so David realized that the Lord had established him as king of Israel and was making his kingdom prosperous for the sake of his people.

¹³After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David took more concubines and wives, and had more sons and daughters. ¹⁴The following children were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

Victory over the Philistines

¹⁷The Philistines were told that David had been made king of Israel, so their army set out to capture him. When David heard of it, he went down to a fortified place. ¹⁸The Philistines arrived at the Valley of Rephaim and occupied it. ¹⁹David asked the Lord, “Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?”

“Yes, attack!” the Lord answered. “I will give you the victory!”

²⁰So David went to Baal Perazim and there he defeated the Philistines. He said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies like a flood.” And so that place is called Baal Perazim.^{g 21}When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David and his men carried them away.

²²Then the Philistines went back to the Valley of Rephaim and occupied it again. ²³Once more David consulted the Lord, who answered, “Don’t attack them from here, but go round and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees. ²⁴When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.” ²⁵David did what the Lord had commanded, and was able to drive the Philistines back from Geba all the way to Gezer.