2 Samuel 2–4

David Anointed King Over Judah

2In the course of time, David inquired^p of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.

The Lord said, “Go up.”

David asked, “Where shall I go?”

“To Hebron,”^q the Lord answered.

²So David went up there with his two wives,^r Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail,^s the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³David also took the men who were with him,^t each with his family, and they settled in Hebron^u and its towns. ⁴Then the men of Judah came to Hebron,^v and there they anointed^w David king over the tribe of Judah.

When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead^x who had buried Saul, ⁵he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The Lord bless^y you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. ⁶May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness,^z and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. ⁷Now then, be strong^a and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.”

War Between the Houses of David and Saul

3:2–5pp—1Ch 3:1–4

⁸Meanwhile, Abner^b son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth^c son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.^{d 9}He made him king over Gilead,^e Ashuri^f and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.^g

¹⁰Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David. ¹¹The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.^h

¹²Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon.^{i 13}Joab^j son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.

¹⁴Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.”

“All right, let them do it,” Joab said.

¹⁵So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. ¹⁶Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger^k into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.^a

¹⁷The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated^l by David’s men.^m

¹⁸The three sons of Zeruiahⁿ were there: Joab,^o Abishai^p and Asahel.^q Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle.^{r 19}He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him. ²⁰Abner looked behind him and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?”

“It is,” he answered.

²¹Then Abner said to him, “Turn aside to the right or to the left; take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.

²²Again Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?”^s

²³But Asahel refused to give up the pursuit; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel’s stomach,^t and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and died on the spot. And every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.^u

²⁴But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and as the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon. ²⁵Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill.

²⁶Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour^v forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?”

²⁷Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.”

²⁸So Joab^w blew the trumpet,^x and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.

²⁹All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah.^y They crossed the Jordan, continued through the morning hours^b and came to Mahanaim.^z

³⁰Then Joab stopped pursuing Abner and assembled the whole army. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were found missing. ³¹But David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner. ³²They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb^a at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.

3The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time.^b David grew stronger and stronger,^c while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.^d

²Sons were born to David in Hebron:

His firstborn was Amnon^e the son of Ahinoam^f of Jezreel;

³his second, Kileab the son of Abigail^g the widow of Nabal of Carmel;

the third, Absalom^h the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;ⁱ

⁴the fourth, Adonijah^j the son of Haggith;

the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;

⁵and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah.

These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Goes Over to David

⁶During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner^k had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. ⁷Now Saul had had a concubine^l named Rizpah^m daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

⁸Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s headⁿ—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman! ⁹May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the Lord promised^o him on oath ¹⁰and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.”^{p 11}Ish-Bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.

¹²Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you.”

¹³“Good,” said David. “I will make an agreement with you. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me.”^{q 14}Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, “Give me my wife Michal,^r whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

¹⁵So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband^s Paltiel^t son of Laish. ¹⁶Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim.^u Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he went back.

¹⁷Abner conferred with the elders^v of Israel and said, “For some time you have wanted to make David your king. ¹⁸Now do it! For the Lord promised David, ‘By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines^w and from the hand of all their enemies.^x’ ”

¹⁹Abner also spoke to the Benjamites in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole tribe of Benjamin^y wanted to do. ²⁰When Abner, who had twenty men with him, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast^z for him and his men. ²¹Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant^a with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.”^b So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

Joab Murders Abner

²²Just then David’s men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. ²³When Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived, he was told that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that the king had sent him away and that he had gone in peace.

²⁴So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! ²⁵You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing.”

²⁶Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern at Sirah. But David did not know it. ²⁷Now when Abner^c returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him^d in the stomach, and he died.^e

²⁸Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent^f before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹May his blood^g fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family!^h May Joab’s family never be without someone who has a running soreⁱ or leprosy^a or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.”

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

³¹Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth^j and walk in mourning^k in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. ³²They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept^l aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.

³³The king sang this lament^m for Abner:

“Should Abner have died as the lawless die?

³⁴Your hands were not bound,

your feet were not fettered.ⁿ

You fell as one falls before the wicked.”

And all the people wept over him again.

³⁵Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,^o if I taste bread^p or anything else before the sun sets!”

³⁶All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. ³⁷So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part^q in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

³⁸Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man…