< 2 Samuel 2 >
1 And it comes to pass afterward, that David inquires of YHWH, saying, “Do I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” And YHWH says to him, “Go up.” And David says, “To where do I go up?” And He says, “To Hebron.”
Now after this, David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go up into any of the towns of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go up. And David said, Where am I to go? And he said, To Hebron.
2 And David goes up there, and also his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite;
So David went there, taking with him his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
3 and David has brought up his men who [are] with him—a man and his household—and they dwell in the cities of Hebron.
And David took all his men with him, every man with his family: and they were living in the towns round Hebron.
4 And the men of Judah come, and anoint David there for king over the house of Judah; and they declare to David, saying, “The men of Jabesh-Gilead [are] they who buried Saul.”
And the men of Judah came there, and with the holy oil made David king over the people of Judah. And word came to David that it was the men of Jabesh-gilead who put Saul's body in its last resting-place.
5 And David sends messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead and says to them, “Blessed [are] you of YHWH, in that you have done this kindness with your lord, with Saul, that you bury him.
And David sent to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, May the Lord give you his blessing, because you have done this kind act to Saul your lord, and have put his body to rest!
6 And now YHWH does kindness and truth with you, and I also do this good with you because you have done this thing;
May the Lord be good and true to you: and I myself will see that your kind act is rewarded, because you have done this thing.
7 and now your hands are strong, and be for sons of valor, for your lord Saul [is] dead, and the house of Judah has also anointed me for king over them.”
Then let your hands be strong, and have no fear: though Saul your lord is dead, the people of Judah have made me their king.
8 And Abner, son of Ner, head of the host which Saul has, has taken Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, and causes him to pass over to Mahanaim,
Now Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Saul's son Ish-bosheth over to Mahanaim,
9 and causes him to reign over Gilead, and over the Ashurite, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over Israel—all of it.
And made him king over Gilead and the Asherites and over Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin, that is, over all Israel.
10 Ish-Bosheth son of Saul [is] a son of forty years in his reigning over Israel, and he has reigned [for] two years; only the house of Judah has been after David.
(Saul's son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was ruler for two years.) But Judah was on the side of David.
11 And the number of the days that David has been king in Hebron, over the house of Judah, is seven years and six months.
And the time when David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah was seven years and six months.
12 And Abner son of Ner goes out, and servants of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
And Abner, the son of Ner, with the servants of Saul's son Ish-bosheth, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13 And Joab son of Zeruiah, and servants of David, have gone out, and they meet by the pool of Gibeon together, and sit down, these by the pool on this [side], and these by the pool on that [side].
And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and came face to face with them by the pool of Gibeon; and they took up their position, facing one another on opposite sides of the pool.
14 And Abner says to Joab, “Now let the youths rise and they play before us”; and Joab says, “Let them rise.”
And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men give a test of their strength before us. And Joab said, Let them do so.
15 And they rise and pass over, in number twelve of Benjamin, even of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
So they got up and went over by number: twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth and twelve of the servants of David.
16 And they each lay hold on the head of his companion, and his sword [is] in the side of his companion, and they fall together, and [one] calls that place Helkath-Hazzurim, which [is] in Gibeon,
And every one got the other by the head, driving his sword into the other's side, so they all went down together: and that place was named the Field of Sides, and it is in Gibeon.
17 and the battle is very hard on that day, and Abner is struck, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
And there was hard fighting that day; and Abner and the men of Israel gave way before the servants of David.
18 And there are three sons of Zeruiah there: Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel [is] light on his feet, as one of the roes which [are] in the field,
There were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel: and Asahel was as quick-footed as a roe of the fields.
19 and Asahel pursues after Abner, and has not turned aside to go to the right or to the left, from after Abner.
Asahel went running after Abner, not turning to the right or to the left.
20 And Abner looks behind him and says, “Are you he—Asahel?” And he says, “I [am].”
Then Abner, looking back, said, Is it you, Asahel? And he said, It is I.
21 And Abner says to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the youths for yourself, and take his armor for yourself”; and Asahel has not been willing to turn aside from after him.
And Abner said, Then go to the right or to the left and put your hands on one of the fighting-men and take his arms. But Asahel would not be turned away from going after Abner.
22 And Abner adds again, saying to Asahel, “Turn aside from after me, why do I strike you to the earth? And how do I lift up my face to your brother Joab?”
Then again Abner said to Asahel, Go to one side, do not keep on coming after me: why will you make me put an end to you? for then I will be shamed before your brother Joab.
23 And he refuses to turn aside, and Abner strikes him with the back part of the spear to the fifth [rib], and the spear comes out from behind him, and he falls there, and dies under it; and it comes to pass, everyone who has come to the place where Asahel has fallen and dies—they stand still.
But still he did not go to one side: so Abner gave him a back blow in the stomach with his spear, so that the spear came out at his back; and he went down on the earth, wounded to death: and all those who came to the place where Asahel went down dead, came to a stop.
24 And Joab and Abishai pursue after Abner, and the sun has gone in, and they have come to the height of Ammah, which [is] on the front of Giah, the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
But Joab and Abishai went after Abner: and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is to the east of the road through the waste land of Geba.
25 And the sons of Benjamin gather themselves together after Abner, and become one troop, and stand on the top of a certain height,
And the men of Benjamin came together after Abner in one band, and took their places on the top of a hill.
26 and Abner calls to Joab and says, “Does the sword consume forever? Have you not known that it is bitterness in the latter end? And until when do you not say to the people to turn back from after their brothers?”
Then crying out to Joab, Abner said, Are fighting and destruction to go on for ever? do you not see that the end will only be bitter? how long will it be before you send the people back and make them give up attacking their countrymen?
27 And Joab says, “God lives! For unless you had spoken, surely then from the morning each of the people had gone up from after his brother.”
And Joab said, By the living God, if you had not given the word, the people would have gone on attacking their countrymen till the morning.
28 And Joab blows with a horn, and all the people stand still, and no longer pursue after Israel, nor have they added to fight anymore.
So Joab had a horn sounded, and all the people came to a stop, and gave up going after Israel and fighting them.
29 And Abner and his men have gone through the plain all that night, and pass over the Jordan, and go on [through] all Bithron, and come to Mahanaim.
And all that night Abner and his men went through the Arabah; they went over Jordan and through all Bithron and came to Mahanaim.
30 And Joab has turned back from after Abner, and gathers all the people, and there are lacking of the servants of David nineteen men, and Asahel;
And Joab came back from fighting Abner: and when he had got all his men together, it was seen that nineteen of David's men, in addition to Asahel, were not with them.
31 and the servants of David have struck of Benjamin, even among the men of Abner, three hundred and sixty men—they died.
But David's men had put to death three hundred and sixty of the men of Benjamin and of Abner's men
32 And they lift up Asahel, and bury him in the burying-place of his father, which [is] in Beth-Lehem, and they go all the night—Joab and his men—and [dawn’s light] shines on them in Hebron.
And they took Asahel's body and put it in the last resting-place of his father in Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men, travelling all night, came to Hebron at dawn.