2 Samuel 1–2

Chapter 1

¹After the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag; ²and on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and did obeisance. ³David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa; and there was Saul leaning upon his spear; and lo, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and slay me; for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰So I stood beside him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen; and I took the crown which was on his head and the armlet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes, and rent them; and so did all the men who were with him; ¹²and they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, fall upon him.” And he smote him so that he died. ¹⁶And David said to him, “Your blood be upon your head; for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have slain the Lord’s anointed.’ ”

¹⁷And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸and he said it^a should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:

¹⁹“Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places!

How are the mighty fallen!

²⁰Tell it not in Gath,

publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon;

lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,

lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

²¹“Ye mountains of Gilboa,

let there be no dew or rain upon you,

nor upsurging of the deep!^c

For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,

the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

²²“From the blood of the slain,

from the fat of the mighty,

the bow of Jonathan turned not back,

and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

²³“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!

In life and in death they were not divided;

they were swifter than eagles,

they were stronger than lions.

²⁴“Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

who clothed you daintily in scarlet,

who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

²⁵“How are the mighty fallen

in the midst of the battle!

“Jonathan lies slain upon thy high places.

²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;

very pleasant have you been to me;

your love to me was wonderful,

passing the love of women.

²⁷“How are the mighty fallen,

and the weapons of war perished!”

Chapter 2

¹After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” ²So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahino-am of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³And David brought up his men who were with him, every one with his household; and they dwelt in the towns of Hebron. ⁴And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” ⁵David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord, and buried him! ⁶Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. ⁷Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

⁸Now Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; ⁹and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. ¹⁰Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

¹²Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and play before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” ¹⁵Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶And each caught his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim,^d which is at Gibeon. ¹⁷And the battle was very fierce that day; and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

¹⁸And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle; ¹⁹and Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. ²⁰Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” ²¹Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men, and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. ²²And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me; why should I smite you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” ²³But he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner smote him in the belly with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back; and he fell there, and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner; and as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵And the Benjaminites gathered themselves together behind Abner, and became one band, and took their stand on the top of a hill. ²⁶Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour for ever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you bid your people turn from the pursuit of their brethren?” ²⁷And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would have given up the pursuit of their brethren in the morning.” ²⁸So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the men stopped, and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight any more.

²⁹And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah; they crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole forenoon they came to Mahanaim. ³⁰Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. ³¹But the servants of David had slain of Benjamin three hundred and sixty of Abner’s men. ³²And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.