2 Samuel 2
2
King of Judah
1And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. 2So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite. 3And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul. 5And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. 6And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing. 7Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.
The End of Saul's House
8But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; 9and made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 10Ish-bosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and 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.
12And Abner 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 together by 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 now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise. 15Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
18And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. 19And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am. 21And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him. 22And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? 23Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
24Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill. 26Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? 27And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. 28So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. 29And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.
30And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel. 31But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, so that three hundred and threescore men died. 32And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
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2 Samuel 2: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James Version2 Samuel 2
2
David is Made King of Judah
1After this, David asked the LORD, “Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?”
“Yes,” the LORD answered.
“Which one?” David asked.
“Hebron,” the LORD said. 2#1 Sam 25.42–43So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel. 3He also took his men and their families, and they settled in the towns round Hebron. 4#1 Sam 31.11–13Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David as king of Judah.
When David heard that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had buried Saul, 5he sent some men there with the message: “May the LORD bless you for showing your loyalty to your king by burying him. 6And now may the LORD be kind and faithful to you. I too will treat you well because of what you have done. 7Be strong and brave! Saul your king is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me as their king.”
Ishbosheth is Made King of Israel
8The commander of Saul's army, Abner son of Ner, had fled with Saul's son Ishbosheth across the Jordan to Mahanaim. 9There Abner made Ishbosheth king of the territories of Gilead, Asher,#2.9 One ancient translation Asher; Hebrew Assyria. Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin, and indeed over all Israel. 10He was forty years old when he was made king of Israel, and he ruled for two years.
But the tribe of Judah was loyal to David, 11and he ruled in Hebron over Judah for seven and a half years.
War between Israel and Judah
12Abner and the officials of Ishbosheth went from Mahanaim to the city of Gibeon. 13Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, and David's other officials met them at the pool, where they all sat down, one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the opposite side. 14Abner said to Joab, “Let's get some of the young men from each side to fight an armed contest.”
“All right,” Joab answered.
15So twelve men, representing Ishbosheth and the tribe of Benjamin, fought twelve of David's men. 16Each man caught his opponent by the head and plunged his sword into his opponent's side, so that all 24 of them fell down dead together. And so that place in Gibeon is called “Field of Swords”.
17Then a furious battle broke out, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David's men. 18The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel, who could run as fast as a wild deer, 19started chasing Abner, running straight for him. 20Abner looked back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“Yes,” he answered.
21“Stop chasing me!” Abner said. “Run after one of the soldiers and take what he has.” But Asahel kept on chasing him. 22Once more Abner said to him, “Stop chasing me! Why force me to kill you? How could I face your brother Joab?” 23But Asahel would not give up; so Abner, with a backward thrust#2.23 Probable text with a backward thrust; Hebrew unclear. of his spear, struck him through the belly so that the spear came out at his back. Asahel dropped to the ground dead, and everyone who came to the place where he was lying stopped and stood there.
24But Joab and Abishai started out after Abner, and at sunset they came to the hill of Ammah, which is to the east of Giah on the road to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25The men from the tribe of Benjamin gathered round Abner again and took their stand on the top of a hill. 26Abner called out to Joab, “Do we have to go on fighting for ever? Can't you see that in the end there will be nothing but bitterness? We are your fellow-countrymen. How long will it be before you order your men to stop chasing us?”
27“I swear by the living God,” Joab answered, “that if you had not spoken, my men would have kept on chasing you until tomorrow morning.” 28Then Joab blew the trumpet as a signal for his men to stop pursuing the Israelites; and so the fighting stopped.
29Abner and his men marched through the Jordan Valley all that night; they crossed the River Jordan, and after marching all the next morning, they arrived back at Mahanaim.
30When Joab gave up the chase, he gathered all his men and found that nineteen of them were missing, in addition to Asahel. 31David's men had killed 360 of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin. 32Joab and his men took Asahel's body and buried it in the family tomb at Bethlehem. Then they marched all night and at dawn arrived back at Hebron.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.