2 Samuel 1–20

Chapter 1

David Learns of Saul’s Death

¹Now it came about after ^athe death of Saul, when David had returned from ^bthe slaughter of the Amalekites, that David remained two days in Ziklag.

²On the third day, behold, ^aa man came out of the camp from Saul, ^bwith his clothes torn and ¹dust on his head. And it came about when he came to David that ^che fell to the ground and prostrated himself.

³Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

⁴David said to him, “^aHow did things go? Please tell me.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”

⁵So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶The young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on ^aMount Gilboa, and behold, ^bSaul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely.

⁷“When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’

⁸“He said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I ¹answered him, ‘^aI am an Amalekite.’

⁹“Then he said to me, ‘Please stand beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my ¹life still lingers in me.’

¹⁰“So I stood beside him ^aand killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And ^bI took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then ^aDavid took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him.

¹²They mourned and wept and ^afasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he ¹answered, “^aI am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”

¹⁴Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid ^ato stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

¹⁵And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, ¹cut him down.” ^aSo he struck him and he died.

¹⁶David said to him, “^aYour blood is on your head, for ^byour mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”

David’s Dirge for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷Then David ^achanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son,

¹⁸and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in ^athe book of Jashar.

¹⁹“¹Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places!

^aHow have the mighty fallen!

²⁰“^aTell it not in Gath,

Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,

Or ^bthe daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,

The daughters of ^cthe uncircumcised will exult.

²¹“^aO mountains of Gilboa,

^bLet not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings;

For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,

The shield of Saul, not ^canointed with oil.

²²“^aFrom the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,

^bThe bow of Jonathan did not turn back,

And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

²³“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life,

And in their death they were not parted;

^aThey were swifter than eagles,

^bThey were stronger than lions.

²⁴“O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,

Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

²⁵“^aHow have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!

Jonathan is slain on your high places.

²⁶“I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;

You have been very pleasant to me.

^aYour love to me was more wonderful

Than the love of women.

²⁷“^aHow have the mighty fallen,

And ^bthe weapons of war perished!”

Chapter 2

David Made King over Judah

¹Then it came about afterwards that ^aDavid inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” So David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “^bTo Hebron.”

²So David went up there, and ^ahis two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the ¹widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

³And ^aDavid brought up his men who were with him, each with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron.

⁴Then the men of Judah came and there ^aanointed David king over the house of Judah.

And they told David, saying, “It was ^bthe men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”

⁵David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “^aMay you be blessed of the Lord because you have ¹shown this kindness to Saul your lord, and have buried him.

⁶“Now ^amay the Lord ¹show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing.

⁷“Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be ¹valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ish-bosheth Made King over Israel

⁸But ^aAbner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken ¹Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^bMahanaim.

⁹He made him king over ^aGilead, over the ^bAshurites, over ^cJezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel.

¹⁰Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was king for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.

^11aThe ¹time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Civil War

¹²Now Abner the son of Ner, went out from Mahanaim to ^aGibeon with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul.

¹³And ^aJoab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met ¹them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, ²one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool.

¹⁴Then Abner said to Joab, “Now let the young men arise and ^1ahold a contest before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

¹⁵So they arose and went over by count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

¹⁶Each one of them seized his ¹opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his ²opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called ³Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

¹⁷That day the battle was very severe, and ^aAbner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

¹⁸Now ^athe three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel; and Asahel was ^bas ¹swift-footed as one of the gazelles which is in the field.

¹⁹Asahel pursued Abner and did not ¹turn to the right or to the left from following Abner.

²⁰Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.”

²¹So Abner said to him, “¹Turn to your right or to your left, and take hold of one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his spoil.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him.

²²Abner repeated again to Asahel, “Turn ¹aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? ^aHow then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?”

²³However, he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died on the spot. And it came about that all who came to the place where ^aAsahel had fallen and died, stood still.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and when the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵The sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one band, and they stood on the top of a certain hill.

²⁶Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you ¹refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers?”

²⁷Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then the people would have gone away in the morning, each from following his brother.”

²⁸So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and pursued Israel no longer, ^anor did they continue to fight anymore.

²⁹Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to ^aMahanaim.

³⁰Then Joab returned from following Abner; when he had gathered all the people together, ¹nineteen of David’s servants besides Asahel were missing.

³¹But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men, so that three hundred and sixty men died.

³²And they took up Asahel and buried him ^ain his father’s tomb which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men went all night until the day ¹dawned at Hebron.

Chapter 3

The House of David Strengthened

¹Now ^athere was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually.

^2aSons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by ^bAhinoam the Jezreelitess;

³and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the ¹widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of ^aMaacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of ^bGeshur;

⁴and the fourth, ^aAdonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;

⁵and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David at Hebron.

Abner Joins David

⁶It came about while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that ^aAbner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.

⁷Now Saul had a concubine whose name was ^aRizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and ¹Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”

⁸Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “^aAm I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman.

⁹“^aMay God do so to Abner, and more also, if ^bas the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him,

^10ato transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel…