2 Samuel 2–4

David Is Made King of Judah

2Later, David prayed to the Lord, saying, “Should I go up to any of the cities of Judah?”

The Lord said to David, “Go.”

David asked, “Where should I go?”

The Lord answered, “To Hebron.”

²So David went up to Hebron with his two wives: Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. ³David also brought his men and their families, and they all made their homes in the cities of Hebron. ⁴Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and appointed David king over Judah.

They told David that the men of Jabesh Gilead had buried Saul. ⁵So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead and said to them, “The Lord bless you. You have shown loyalty to your master Saul by burying him. ⁶May the Lord now be loyal and true to you. I will also treat you well because you have done this. ⁷Now be strong and brave. Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have appointed me their king.”

War Between Judah and Israel

⁸Abner son of Ner was the commander of Saul’s army. Abner took Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth to Mahanaim ⁹and made him king of Gilead, Ashuri, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. ¹⁰Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he ruled two years. But the people of Judah followed David. ¹¹David was king in Hebron for seven years and six months.

¹²Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. ¹³Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men also went there and met Abner and Ish-Bosheth’s men at the pool of Gibeon. Abner’s group sat on one side of the pool; Joab’s group sat on the other.

¹⁴Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men have a contest here.”

Joab said, “Yes, let them have a contest.”

¹⁵Then the men got up and were counted—twelve from the people of Benjamin for Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from David’s men. ¹⁶Each man grabbed the one opposite him by the head and stabbed him in the side with a knife. So the men fell down together. For that reason, that place in Gibeon is called the Field of Knives. ¹⁷That day there was a terrible battle, and David’s men defeated Abner and the Israelites.

Abner Kills Asahel

¹⁸Zeruiah’s three sons, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were there. Now Asahel was a fast runner, as fast as a deer in the field. ¹⁹Asahel chased Abner, going straight toward him. ²⁰Abner looked back and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?”

Asahel said, “Yes, it is.”

²¹Then Abner said to Asahel, “Turn to your right or left and catch one of the young men and take his armor.” But Asahel refused to stop chasing him.

²²Abner again said to Asahel, “Stop chasing me! If you don’t stop, I’ll have to kill you! Then I won’t be able to face your brother Joab again!”

²³But Asahel refused to stop chasing Abner. So using the back end of his spear, Abner stabbed Asahel in the stomach, and the spear came out of his back. Asahel died right there, and everyone stopped when they came to the place where Asahel’s body lay.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai continued chasing Abner. As the sun was going down, they arrived at the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the desert near Gibeon. ²⁵The men of Benjamin came to Abner, and all stood together at the top of the hill.

²⁶Abner shouted to Joab, “Must the sword kill forever? Surely you must know this will only end in sadness! Tell the people to stop chasing their own brothers!”

²⁷Then Joab said, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said anything, the people would have chased their brothers until morning.” ²⁸Then Joab blew a trumpet, and his people stopped chasing the Israelites. They did not fight them anymore.

²⁹Abner and his men marched all night through the Jordan Valley. They crossed the Jordan River, and after marching all day, arrived at Mahanaim.

³⁰After he had stopped chasing Abner, Joab came back and gathered the people together. Asahel and nineteen of David’s men were missing. ³¹But David’s men had killed three hundred sixty Benjaminites who had followed Abner. ³²David’s men took Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night. The sun came up as they reached Hebron.

3There was a long war between the people who supported Saul’s family and those who supported David’s family. The supporters of David’s family became stronger and stronger, but the supporters of Saul’s family became weaker and weaker.

David’s Sons

²Sons were born to David at Hebron. The first was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel. ³The second son was Kileab, whose mother was Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. The third son was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur. ⁴The fourth son was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The fifth son was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital. ⁵The sixth son was Ithream, whose mother was Eglah, David’s wife. These sons were born to David at Hebron.

Abner Joins David

⁶During the war between the supporters of Saul’s family and the supporters of David’s family, Abner made himself a main leader among the supporters of Saul.

⁷Saul once had a slave woman named Rizpah, who was the daughter of Aiah. Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you have sexual relations with my father’s slave woman?”

⁸Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said, and he replied, “I have been loyal to Saul and his family and friends! I didn’t hand you over to David. I am not a traitor working for Judah! But now you are saying I did something wrong with this woman! ⁹May God help me if I don’t join David! I will make sure that what the Lord promised does happen! ¹⁰I will take the kingdom from the family of Saul and make David king of Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba!” ⁿ

¹¹Ish-Bosheth couldn’t say anything to Abner, because he was afraid of him.

¹²Then Abner sent messengers to ask David, “Who is going to rule the land? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you unite all Israel.”

¹³David answered, “Good! I will make an agreement with you, but I ask you one thing. I will not meet with you unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal to me.” ¹⁴Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth, saying, “Give me my wife Michal. She was promised to me, and I killed a hundred Philistines to get her.”

¹⁵So Ish-Bosheth sent men to take Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. ¹⁶Michal’s husband went with her, crying as he followed her to Bahurim. But Abner said to Paltiel, “Go back home.” So he went home.

¹⁷Abner sent this message to the elders of Israel: “You have been wanting to make David your king. ¹⁸Now do it! The Lord said of David, ‘Through my servant David, I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and all their enemies.’ ”

¹⁹Abner also said these things to the people of Benjamin. He then went to Hebron to tell David what the Benjaminites and Israel wanted to do. ²⁰Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron. There David prepared a feast for them. ²¹Abner said to David, “My master and king, I will go and bring all the Israelites to you. Then they will make an agreement with you so you will rule over all Israel as you wanted.” So David let Abner go, and he left in peace.

Abner’s Death

²²Just then Joab and David’s men came from a battle, bringing many valuable things they had taken from the enemy. David had let Abner leave in peace, so he was not with David at Hebron. ²³When Joab and all his army arrived at Hebron, the army said to Joab, “Abner son of Ner came to King David, and David let him leave in peace.”

²⁴Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he’s gone. ²⁵You know Abner son of Ner! He came to trick you! He came to learn about everything you are doing!”

²⁶After Joab left David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know this. ²⁷When Abner arrived at Hebron, Joab took him aside into the gateway. He acted as though he wanted to talk with Abner in private, but Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and Abner died. Abner had killed Joab’s brother Asahel, so Joab killed Abner to pay him back.

²⁸Later when David heard the news, he said, “My kingdom and I are innocent forever of the death of Abner son of Ner. The Lord knows this. ²⁹Joab and his family are responsible for this. May his family always have someone with sores or with a skin disease. May they always have someone who must lean on a crutch. May some of his family be killed in war. May they always have someone without food to eat.”

³⁰(Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

³¹Then David said to Joab and to all the people with Joab, “Tear your clothes and put on rough cloth to show how sad you are. Cry for Abner.” King David himself followed the body of Abner. ³²They buried Abner in Hebron, and David and all the people cried at Abner’s grave.

³³King David sang this funeral song for Abner.

“Did Abner die like a fool?

³⁴His hands were not tied.

His feet were not in chains.

He fell at the hands of evil men.”

Then all the people cried again for Abner. ³⁵They came to encourage David to eat while it was still day. But he made a promise, saying, “May God punish me terribly if I eat bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

³⁶All the people saw what happened, and they agreed with what the king was doing, just as they agreed with everything he did. ³⁷That day all the people of Judah and Israel understood that David did not order the killing of Abner son of Ner.

³⁸David said to his officers, “You know that a great man died today in Israel. ³⁹Even though I am the appointed king, I feel empty. These sons of Zeruiah are too much for me. May the Lord give them the punishment they should have.”

Ish-Bosheth’s Death

4When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died at Hebron, he was shocked and all Israel became frightened. ²Two men who were captains in Saul’s army came to Ish-Bosheth. One was named Baanah, and the other was…