Kings II 2
1 And it came to pass after this that David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Juda? and the Lord said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? and he said, To Chebron.
Sometime after this, David asked the Lord, “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?” “Yes, do it,” the Lord replied. “Which one should I go to?” David asked. “Go to Hebron,” said the Lord.
2 And David went up there to Chebron, [he] and both his wives, Achinaam the Jezraelitess, and Abigaia the wife of Nabal the Carmelite,
So David moved there with his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's widow from Carmel.
3 and the men that were with him, every one and his family; and they lived in the cities of Chebron.
He also brought the men who were with him, along with their families, and they settled in the villages near Hebron.
4 And the men of Judea come, and anoint David there to reign over the house of Juda; and they reported to David, saying, The men of Jabis of the country of Galaad have buried Saul.
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king of the people of Judah. When David found out that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul,
5 And David sent messengers to the rulers of Jabis of the country of Galaad, and David said to them, Blessed be you of the Lord, because you have wrought this mercy towards your lord, even towards Saul the anointed of the Lord, and you have buried him and Jonathan his son.
he sent messengers to them, saying, “May the Lord bless you, because you demonstrated your loyal love to Saul your master, and you buried him properly.
6 And now may the Lord deal in mercy and truth towards you: and I also will requite towards you this good deed, because you have done this.
Now may the Lord show you loyal love and trustworthiness, and I will also be good to you because of what you did for Saul.
7 And now let your hands be made strong, and be valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and moreover the house of Juda have anointed me to be king over them.
So be strong and be brave, for even though Saul your master is dead, the people of Judah have anointed me as their king.”
8 But Abenner, the son of Ner, the commander-in-chief of Saul's army, took Jebosthe son of Saul, and brought him up from the camp to Manaem
However, Abner, son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, had taken Ishbosheth, son of Saul, to Mahanaim.
9 and made him king over the land of Galaad, and over Thasiri, and over Jezrael, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
There he set up Ishbosheth as king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin, in fact over all Israel.
10 Jebosthe, Saul's son [was] forty years old, when he reigned over Israel; and he reigned two years, but not over the house of Juda, who followed David.
Ishbosheth, son of Saul, was forty when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. However, the people of Judah were on David's side.
11 And the days which David reigned in Chebron over the house of Juda were seven years and six months.
David ruled in Hebron as king over the people of Judah for seven years and six months.
12 And Abenner the son of Ner went forth, and the servants of Jebosthe the son of Saul, from Manaem to Gabaon.
One day Abner and Ishbosheth's men left Mahanaim and went to the town of Gibeon.
13 And Joab the son of Saruia, and the servants of David, went forth from Chebron, and met them at the fountain of Gabaon, at the same place: and these sat down by the fountain on this side, and those by the fountain on that side.
Joab, son of Zeruiah, and David's men set off and met them at the pool of Gibeon, where they all sat down, facing each other across the pool.
14 And Abenner said to Joab, Let now the young men arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
Abner said to Joab, “Why not let's have some of the men fight in hand to hand combat before us.” “Fine,” Joab agreed.
15 And there arose and passed over by number twelve of the children of Benjamin, belonging to Jebosthe the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
So twelve men came forward from each side—twelve for Benjamin and Ishbosheth, and twelve for David.
16 And they seized every one the head of his neighbour with his hand, and his sword [was thrust] into the side of his neighbour, and they fall down together: and the name of that place was called The portion of the treacherous ones, which is in Gabaon.
Each man grabbed his opponent's head and drove his sword into his opponent's side so that they all fell down dead together. That's why this place in Gibeon is called the Field of Sword-edges.
17 And the battle was very severe on that day; and Abenner and the men of Israel were worsted before the servants of David.
The battle that followed was hard-fought, but eventually Abner and his men were defeated by David's men.
18 And there were there the three sons of Saruia, Joab, and Abessa, and Asael: and Asael was swift in his feet as a roe in the field.
The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a fast runner, like a gazelle racing across the open countryside.
19 And Asael followed after Abenner, and turned not to go to the right hand or to the left from following Abenner.
He chased after Abner with single-minded determination.
20 And Abenner looked behind him, and said, Are you Asael himself? and he said, I am.
Abner looked back and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” “Yes, it's me,” Asahel replied.
21 And Abenner said to him, Turn you to the right hand or to the left, and lay hold for yourself on one of the young men, and take to yourself his armour: but Asel would not turn back from following him.
Abner told him, “Leave me alone! Go and fight somebody else and take his weapons for yourself!” But Asahel refused to stop chasing him.
22 And Abenner said yet again to Asael, Stand aloof from me, lest I strike you to the ground? and how should I lift up my face to Joab?
Abner warned Asahel again. “Stop chasing me!” he shouted. “Why do you want me to kill you? How could I ever face your brother Joab?”
23 And what does this mean? return to Joab your brother? But he would not stand aloof; and Abenner smites him with the hinder end of the spear on the loins, and the spear went out behind him, and he falls there and dies on the spot: and it came to pass that every one that came to the place where Asael fell and died, stood still.
But Asahel wouldn't stop chasing him, so Abner drove the handle of his spear into his belly. It came out the back, and he fell down dead right there. Everyone who passed by stopped at the place where Asahel had fallen and died.
24 And Joab and Abessa pursued after Abenner, and the sun went down: and they went as far as the hill of Amman, which is in the front of Gai, by the desert way of Gabaon.
But Joab and Abishai set off to chase after Abner. By the time the sun went down they had got as far as the hill of Ammah near Giah, on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
25 And the children of Benjamin who followed Abenner gather themselves together, and they formed themselves into one body, and stood on the top of a hill.
Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin rallied to him there, forming a tight group around him standing at the top of the hill.
26 And Abenner called Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour perpetually? know you not that it will be bitter at last? How long then will you refuse to tell the people to turn from following our brethren?
Abner shouted to Joab: “Do we have to keep killing each other forever? Don't you realize that if we go on it'll only get worse? How long are you going to wait before you order your men to stop chasing their brothers?”
27 And Joab said, As the Lord lives, if you had not spoken, even from the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
“As God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not said anything, my men would have continued chasing their brothers until the morning.”
28 And Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the people departed, and did not pursue after Israel, and did not fight any longer.
Joab blew the horn so all the men stopped—they didn't continue chasing or fighting the Israelites.
29 And Abenner and his men departed at evening, [and went] all that night, and crossed over Jordan, and went along the whole adjacent [country], and they come to the camp.
All through the night Abner and his men marched through the Jordan Valley. They crossed the Jordan River, and continued all morning until they arrived back at Mahanaim.
30 And Joab returned from following Abenner, and he assembled all the people, and there were missing of the people of David, nineteen men, and Asael.
When Joab got back from chasing Abner, he gathered all the men together. Nineteen of David's men were missing in addition to Asahel.
31 And the servants of David struck of the children of Benjamin, of the men of Abenner, three hundred and sixty men belonging to him.
However, they had killed three hundred and sixty of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin.
32 And they take up Asael, and bury him in the tomb of his father in Bethleem. And Joab and the men with him went all the night, and the morning rose upon them in Chebron.
They took Asahel's body and buried him in his father's tomb in Bethlehem. Then they marched all through the night and reached Hebron at dawn.
