2 Samuel 3–4

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 and over Judah, ^bfrom Dan even to Beersheba.”

¹¹And he could no longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him.

¹²Then Abner sent messengers to David in his place, saying, “Whose is the land? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”

¹³He said, “Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, ¹namely, ^ayou shall not see my face unless you ^bfirst bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see ²me.”

¹⁴So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed ^afor a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”

¹⁵Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband, from ¹Paltiel the son of Laish.

¹⁶But her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her as far as ^aBahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” So he returned.

¹⁷Now Abner had ¹consultation with ^athe elders of Israel, saying, “In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you.

¹⁸“Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, ‘^aBy the hand of My servant David ¹I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’ ”

¹⁹Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin; and in addition Abner went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to ^athe whole house of Benjamin.

²⁰Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him.

²¹Abner said to David, “Let me arise and go and ^agather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that ^byou may be king over all that your soul desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

²²And behold, ^athe servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.

²³When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.”

²⁴Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone?

²⁵“You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to learn of ^ayour going out and coming in and to find out all that you are doing.”

Joab Murders Abner

²⁶When Joab came out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know it.

²⁷So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there ^ahe struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother.

²⁸Afterward when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

²⁹“^aMay it ¹fall on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and may there not fail from the house of Joab ^bone who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who takes hold of a distaff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.”

³⁰So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner ^abecause he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

David Mourns Abner

³¹Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “^aTear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier.

³²Thus they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at ^athe grave of Abner, and all the people wept.

^33aThe king chanted a lament for Abner and said,

“Should Abner die as a fool dies?

³⁴“Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters;

As one falls before the ¹wicked, you have fallen.”

And all the people wept again over him.

³⁵Then all the people came ^ato ¹persuade David to eat bread while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, “^bMay God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else ^cbefore the sun goes down.”

³⁶Now all the people took note of it, and it ¹pleased them, just as everything the king did ²pleased all the people.

³⁷So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death.

³⁸Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?

³⁹“I am ^aweak today, though anointed king; and these men ^bthe sons of Zeruiah are too difficult for me. ^cMay the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil.”

Chapter 4

Ish-bosheth Murdered

¹Now when ¹Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that ^aAbner had died in Hebron, ^2bhe lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed.

²Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for ^aBeeroth is also considered ^bpart of Benjamin,

³and the Beerothites fled to ^aGittaim and have been aliens there until this day).

⁴Now ^aJonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the ^breport of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was ^1cMephibosheth.

⁵So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of ^aIsh-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest.

⁶¹They came to the middle of the house as ²if to get wheat, and ^athey struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

⁷Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and ^1atraveled by way of the Arabah all night.

⁸Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth ^athe son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his ¹descendants.”

⁹David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, ^awho has redeemed my life from all distress,

^10awhen one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and ¹thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

¹¹“How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now ^arequire his blood from your hand and ¹destroy you from the earth?”

¹²Then ^aDavid commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth ^band buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.