2 Samuel 4

1 And the son of Saul hears that Abner [is] dead in Hebron, and his hands are feeble, and all of Israel has been troubled.

When Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.

2 And two men, heads of troops, have been [to] the son of Saul, the name of the first [is] Baanah, and the name of the second Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin, for Beeroth is also reckoned to Benjamin,

Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also is considered a part of Benjamin;

3 and the Beerothites flee to Gittaim, and are sojourners there to this day.

and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have lived as foreigners there until today).

4 And to Jonathan son of Saul [is] a son—lame; he was a son of five years at the coming in of the rumor of [the death of] Saul and Jonathan, out of Jezreel, and his nurse lifts him up, and flees, and it comes to pass in her hastening to flee, that he falls, and becomes lame, and his name [is] Mephibosheth.

Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came about Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel; and his nurse picked him up and fled. As she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

5 And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, go, and come in at the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Bosheth, and he is lying down—the lying down of noon;

The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth as he took his rest at noon.

6 and they have come there, to the midst of the house, taking wheat, and they strike him to the fifth [rib], and Rechab and his brother Baanah have escaped;

They came there into the middle of the house as though they would have fetched wheat, and they struck him in the body; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

7 indeed, they come into the house, and he is lying on his bed, in the inner part of his bed-chamber, and they strike him, and put him to death, and turn his head aside, and they take his head, and go the way of the plain all the night,

Now when they came into the house as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him, killed him, beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night.

8 and bring in the head of Ish-Bosheth to David in Hebron, and say to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; and YHWH gives vengeance to my lord the king this day, of Saul and of his seed.”

They brought the head of Ishbosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life! The LORD has avenged my lord the king today of Saul and of his offspring.”

9 And David answers Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and says to them, “YHWH lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

10 when one is declaring to me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, and he was as a bearer of tidings in his own eyes, then I take hold on him, and slay him in Ziklag, instead of my giving to him [for] the tidings.

when someone told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ thinking that he brought good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

11 Also—when wicked men have slain the righteous man in his own house, on his bed; and now, do I not require his blood from your hand, and have taken you away from the earth?”

How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand, and rid the earth of you?”

12 And David commands the young men, and they slay them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hang [them] over the pool in Hebron, and they have taken the head of Ish-Bosheth, and bury [it] in the burying-place of Abner in Hebron.

David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in Abner’s grave in Hebron.