2 Samuel 4–5

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 named Recab. They were the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, who was a Benjaminite. (The town Beeroth belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. ³The people of Beeroth ran away to Gittaim, and they still live there as foreigners today.)

⁴(Saul’s son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan were dead. Mephibosheth’s nurse had picked him up and run away. But as she hurried to leave, she dropped him, and now he was lame.)

⁵Recab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, went to Ish-Bosheth’s house in the afternoon while he was taking a nap. ^6–7They went into the middle of the house as if to get some wheat. Ish-Bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom. Then Recab and Baanah stabbed him in the stomach, killed him, cut off his head, and took it with them. They escaped and traveled all night through the Jordan Valley. ⁸When they arrived at Hebron, they gave his head to David and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy. He tried to kill you! Today the Lord has paid back Saul and his family for what they did to you!”

⁹David answered Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, “As surely as the Lord lives, he has saved me from all trouble! ¹⁰Once a man thought he was bringing me good news. When he told me, ‘Saul is dead!’ I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! ¹¹So even more I must put you evil men to death because you have killed an innocent man on his own bed in his own house!”

¹²So David commanded his men to kill Recab and Baanah. They cut off the hands and feet of Recab and Baanah and hung them over the pool of Hebron. Then they took Ish-Bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

David Is Made King of Israel

5Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said to him, “Look, we are your own family. ²Even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel in battle. The Lord said to you, ‘You will be a shepherd for my people Israel. You will be their leader.’ ”

³So all the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron, and he made an agreement with them in Hebron in the presence of the Lord. Then they poured oil on David to make him king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled forty years. ⁵He was king over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months, and he was king over all Israel and Judah in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

⁶When the king and his men went to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who lived there, the Jebusites said to David, “You can’t get inside our city. Even the blind and the crippled can stop you.” They thought David could not enter their city. ⁷But David did take the city of Jerusalem with its strong walls, and it became the City of David.

⁸That day David said to his men, “To defeat the Jebusites you must go through the water tunnel. Then you can reach those ‘crippled’ and ‘blind’ enemies. This is why people say, ‘The blind and the crippled may not enter the palace.’ ”

⁹So David lived in the strong, walled city and called it the City of David. David built more buildings around it, beginning where the land was filled in. He also built more buildings inside the city. ¹⁰He became stronger and stronger, because the Lord God All-Powerful was with him.

¹¹Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonecutters. They built a palace for David. ¹²Then David knew that the Lord really had made him king of Israel and that the Lord had made his kingdom great because the Lord loved his people Israel.

¹³After he came from Hebron, David took for himself more slave women and wives in Jerusalem. More sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴These are the names of the sons born to David in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been made king over Israel, all the Philistines went to look for him. But when David heard the news, he went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸The Philistines came and camped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹David asked the Lord, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord said to David, “Go! I will certainly hand them over to you.”

²⁰So David went to Baal Perazim and defeated the Philistines there. David said, “Like a flood of water, the Lord has broken through my enemies in front of me.” So David named the place Baal Perazim. ^{n 21}The Philistines left their idols behind at Baal Perazim, so David and his men carried them away.

²²Once again the Philistines came and camped at the Valley of Rephaim. ²³When David prayed to the Lord, he answered, “Don’t attack the Philistines from the front. Instead, go around and attack them in front of the balsam trees. ²⁴When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act quickly. I, the Lord, will have gone ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.” ²⁵So David did what the Lord commanded. He defeated the Philistines and chased them all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.