2 Samuel 2
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,#2.16 That is the field of sword-edges 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.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
2 Samuel 2
2
1 After this, David enquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?”
The LORD said to him, “Go up.”
David said, “Where shall I go up?”
He said, “To Hebron.”
2 So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 3David brought up his men who were with him, every man with his household. They lived in the cities of Hebron. 4The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were those who buried Saul.” 5David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “Blessed are you by the LORD, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him. 6Now may the LORD show loving kindness and truth to you. I also will reward you for this kindness, because you have done this thing. 7Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.”
8 Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 10Ishbosheth, 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. 11The 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 Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13Joab the son of Zeruiah and David’s servants went out, and met them 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. 14Abner said to Joab, “Please let the young men arise and compete before us!”
Joab said, “Let them arise!” 15Then they arose and went over by number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of David’s servants. 16They each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.#2:16 “Helkath Hazzurim” means “field of daggers”. 17The battle was very severe that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before David’s servants. 18The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was as light of foot as a wild gazelle. 19Asahel pursued Abner. He didn’t turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner.
20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”
He answered, “It is.”
21Abner said to him, “Turn away to your right hand or to your left, and grab one of the young men, and take his armour.” But Asahel would not turn away from following him. 22Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn away from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I look Joab your brother in the face?” 23However, he refused to turn away. Therefore Abner with the back end of the spear struck him in the body, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there and died in the same place. As many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. The sun went down when they had come to the hill of Ammah, that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25The children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner and became one band, and stood on the top of a hill. 26Then Abner called to Joab, and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Don’t you know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long will it be then, before you ask the people to return from following their brothers?”
27 Joab said, “As God#2:27 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim). lives, if you had not spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone away, and not each followed his brother.” 28So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people stood still and pursued Israel no more, and they fought no more. 29Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah; and they passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and came to Mahanaim.
30 Joab returned from following Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen men of David’s and Asahel were missing. 31But David’s servants had struck Benjamin Abner’s men so that three hundred and sixty men died. 32They took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was in Bethlehem. Joab and his men went all night, and the day broke on them at Hebron.
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