After the death of Saul, David returned from his victory over the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. ²On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s army camp. He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head to show that he was in mourning. He fell to the ground before David in deep respect.

³“Where have you come from?” David asked.

“I escaped from the Israelite camp,” the man replied.

⁴“What happened?” David demanded. “Tell me how the battle went.”

The man replied, “Our entire army fled from the battle. Many of the men are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”

⁵“How do you know Saul and Jonathan are dead?” David demanded of the young man.

⁶The man answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear with the enemy chariots and charioteers closing in on him. ⁷When he turned and saw me, he cried out for me to come to him. ‘How can I help?’ I asked him.

⁸“He responded, ‘Who are you?’

“ ‘I am an Amalekite,’ I told him.

⁹“Then he begged me, ‘Come over here and put me out of my misery, for I am in terrible pain and want to die.’

¹⁰“So I killed him,” the Amalekite told David, “for I knew he couldn’t live. Then I took his crown and his armband, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”

¹¹David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news. ¹²They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day.

¹³Then David said to the young man who had brought the news, “Where are you from?”

And he replied, “I am a foreigner, an Amalekite, who lives in your land.”

¹⁴“Why were you not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed one?” David asked.

¹⁵Then David said to one of his men, “Kill him!” So the man thrust his sword into the Amalekite and killed him. ¹⁶“You have condemned yourself,” David said, “for you yourself confessed that you killed the Lord’s anointed one.”

David’s Song for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷Then David composed a funeral song for Saul and Jonathan, ¹⁸and he commanded that it be taught to the people of Judah. It is known as the Song of the Bow, and it is recorded in The Book of Jashar.

¹⁹Your pride and joy, O Israel, lies dead on the hills!

Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen!

²⁰Don’t announce the news in Gath,

don’t proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon,

or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice

and the pagans will laugh in triumph.

²¹O mountains of Gilboa,

let there be no dew or rain upon you,

nor fruitful fields producing offerings of grain.

For there the shield of the mighty heroes was defiled;

the shield of Saul will no longer be anointed with oil.

²²The bow of Jonathan was powerful,

and the sword of Saul did its mighty work.

They shed the blood of their enemies

and pierced the bodies of mighty heroes.

²³How beloved and gracious were Saul and Jonathan!

They were together in life and in death.

They were swifter than eagles,

stronger than lions.

²⁴O women of Israel, weep for Saul,

for he dressed you in luxurious scarlet clothing,

in garments decorated with gold.

²⁵Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen in battle!

Jonathan lies dead on the hills.

²⁶How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan!

Oh, how much I loved you!

And your love for me was deep,

deeper than the love of women!

²⁷Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen!

Stripped of their weapons, they lie dead.

Chapter 2 David Anointed King of Judah

After this, David asked the Lord, “Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?”

“Yes,” the Lord replied.

Then David asked, “Which town should I go to?”

“To Hebron,” the Lord answered.

²David’s two wives were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. So David and his wives ³and his men and their families all moved to Judah, and they settled in the villages near Hebron. ⁴Then the men of Judah came to David and anointed him king over the people of Judah.

When David heard that the men of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul, ⁵he sent them this message: “May the Lord bless you for being so loyal to your master Saul and giving him a decent burial. ⁶May the Lord be loyal to you in return and reward you with his unfailing love! And I, too, will reward you for what you have done. ⁷Now that Saul is dead, I ask you to be my strong and loyal subjects like the people of Judah, who have anointed me as their new king.”

Ishbosheth Proclaimed King of Israel

⁸But Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had already gone to Mahanaim with Saul’s son Ishbosheth. ⁹There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.

¹⁰Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king, and he ruled from Mahanaim for two years. Meanwhile, the people of Judah remained loyal to David. ¹¹David made Hebron his capital, and he ruled as king of Judah for seven and a half years.

War between Israel and Judah

¹²One day Abner led Ishbosheth’s troops from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³About the same time, Joab son of Zeruiah led David’s troops out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. The two groups sat down there, facing each other from opposite sides of the pool.

¹⁴Then Abner suggested to Joab, “Let’s have a few of our warriors fight hand to hand here in front of us.”

“All right,” Joab agreed. ¹⁵So twelve men were chosen to fight from each side—twelve men of Benjamin representing Ishbosheth son of Saul, and twelve representing David. ¹⁶Each one grabbed his opponent by the hair and thrust his sword into the other’s side so that all of them died. So this place at Gibeon has been known ever since as the Field of Swords.

¹⁷A fierce battle followed that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the forces of David.

The Death of Asahel

¹⁸Joab, Abishai, and Asahel—the three sons of Zeruiah—were among David’s forces that day. Asahel could run like a gazelle, ¹⁹and he began chasing Abner. He pursued him relentlessly, not stopping for anything. ²⁰When Abner looked back and saw him coming, he called out, “Is that you, Asahel?”

“Yes, it is,” he replied.

²¹“Go fight someone else!” Abner warned. “Take on one of the younger men, and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel kept right on chasing Abner.

²²Again Abner shouted to him, “Get away from here! I don’t want to kill you. How could I ever face your brother Joab again?”

²³But Asahel refused to turn back, so Abner thrust the butt end of his spear through Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He stumbled to the ground and died there. And everyone who came by that spot stopped and stood still when they saw Asahel lying there.

²⁴When Joab and Abishai found out what had happened, they set out after Abner. The sun was just going down as they arrived at the hill of Ammah near Giah, along the road to the wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵Abner’s troops from the tribe of Benjamin regrouped there at the top of the hill to take a stand.

²⁶Abner shouted down to Joab, “Must we always be killing each other? Don’t you realize that bitterness is the only result? When will you call off your men from chasing their Israelite brothers?”

²⁷Then Joab said, “God only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t spoken, for we would have chased you all night if necessary.” ²⁸So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men stopped chasing the troops of Israel.

²⁹All that night Abner and his men retreated through the Jordan Valley. They crossed the Jordan River, traveling all through the morning, and didn’t stop until they arrived at Mahanaim.

³⁰Meanwhile, Joab and his men also returned home. When Joab counted his casualties, he discovered that only 19 men were missing in addition to Asahel. ³¹But 360 of Abner’s men had been killed, all from the tribe of Benjamin. ³²Joab and his men took Asahel’s body to Bethlehem and buried him there in his father’s tomb. Then they traveled all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.

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