2 Samuel 4–5

Ish-Bosheth Murdered

4When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner^w had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. ²Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rekab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth^x is considered part of Benjamin, ³because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim^y and have resided there as foreigners to this day.

⁴(Jonathan^z son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news^a about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled.^b His name was Mephibosheth.)^c

⁵Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth,^d and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest.^{e 6}They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed^f him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

⁷They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah.^{g 8}They brought the head^h of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul,ⁱ your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged^j my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

⁹David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered^k me out of every trouble, ¹⁰when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag.^l That was the reward I gave him for his news! ¹¹How much more—when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his blood^m from your hand and rid the earth of you!”

¹²So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them.ⁿ They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

David Becomes King Over Israel

5:1–3pp—1Ch 11:1–3

5All the tribes of Israel^o came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood.^{p 2}In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.^q And the Lord said^r to you, ‘You will shepherd^s my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.^t’ ”

³When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant^u with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed^v David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old^w when he became king, and he reigned^x forty^y years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months,^z and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

David Conquers Jerusalem

5:6–10pp—1Ch 11:4–9 5:11–16pp—1Ch 3:5–9; 14:1–7

⁶The king and his men marched to Jerusalem^a to attack the Jebusites,^b who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion^c—which is the City of David.^d

⁸On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft^e to reach those ‘lame and blind’^f who are David’s enemies.^a” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

⁹David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces^bg inward. ¹⁰And he became more and more powerful,^h because the Lord God Almightyⁱ was with him.^j

¹¹Now Hiram^k king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. ¹²Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom^l for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives^m in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴These are the names of the children born to him there:ⁿ Shammua, Shobab, Nathan,^o Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

5:17–25pp—1Ch 14:8–17

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold.^{p 18}Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;^{q 19}so David inquired^r of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

²⁰So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.” So that place was called Baal Perazim.^{cs 21}The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.^t

²²Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; ²³so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. ²⁴As soon as you hear the sound^u of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front^v of you to strike the Philistine army.” ²⁵So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines^w all the way from Gibeon^dx to Gezer.^y