2 Samuel 2
1 Therfor aftir these thingis Dauid counseilide the Lord, and seide, Whether Y schal stie in to oon of the citees of Juda? And the Lord seide to hym, Stie thou. And Dauid seide to the Lord, Whidur schal Y stie? And the Lord answeride to hym, In to Ebron.
And 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 to him, Go up. And David said, Where shall I go up? And he said, To Hebron.
2 Therfor Dauid stiede, and hise twei wyues, Achynoem of Jezrael, and Abigail, the wijf of Nabal of Carmele.
So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite.
3 But also Dauid ledde the men that weren with hym, ech man with his hows; and thei dwelliden in the townes of Ebron.
And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
4 And the men of Juda camen, and anoyntiden there Dauid, that he schulde regne on the hows of Juda. And it was teld to Dauid, that men of Jabes of Galaad hadden biried Saul.
And 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 Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul.
5 Therfor Dauid sente messangeris to the men of Jabes of Galaad, and seide to hem, Blessid be ye of the Lord, that diden this mercy with your lord Saul, and birieden hym.
And David sent messengers to the men of Jabeshgilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him.
6 And now sotheli the Lord schal yelde to you merci and treuthe, but also Y schal yelde thankyng, for ye diden this word.
And now the LORD show kindness and truth to you: and I also will repay you this kindness, because ye have done this thing.
7 Youre hondis be coumfortid, and be ye sones of strengthe; for thouy youre lord Saul is deed, netheles the hows of Juda anoyntide me kyng to `hym silf.
Therefore 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.
8 Forsothe Abner, the sone of Ner, prince of the oost of Saul, took Isbosech, the sone of Saul, and ledde hym aboute bi the castels,
But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
9 and made him kyng on Galaad, and on Gethsury, and on Jezrael, and on Effraym, and on Beniamyn, and on al Israel.
And he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
10 Isbosech, the sone of Saul, was of fourti yeer, whanne he began to regne on Israel; and he regnede twei yeer. Sotheli the hous aloone of Juda suede Dauid.
Ishbosheth 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.
11 And the noumbre of daies, bi whiche Dauid dwellide regnynge in Ebron on the hows of Juda, was of seuene yeer and sixe monethis.
And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
12 And Abner, the sone of Ner, yede out, and the children of Isbosech, sone of Saul, fro the castels in Gabaon.
And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13 Forsothe Joab, the sone of Saruye, and the children of Dauid yeden out, and camen to hem bisidis the cisterne in Gabaon. And whanne thei hadden come togidere in to o place euene ayens, these saten on o part of the cisterne, and thei on the tother.
And 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.
14 And Abner seide to Joab, `The children rise, and plei befor us. And Joab answeride, Rise thei.
And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and fight before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
15 Therfor thei risiden, and passiden twelue in noumbre of Beniamyn, of the part of Isbosech, sone of Saul; and twelue of the children of Dauid.
Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, who pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
16 And ech man, whanne `the heed of his felowe was takun, fastnede the swerde in to the side of `the contrarye; and thei felden doun togidere. And the name of that place was clepid The Feeld of stronge men in Gabaon.
And they caught every one his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together: therefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.
17 And `batel hard ynow roos in that dai; and Abner and the sones of Israel `weren dryuun of the children of Dauid.
And there was a very fierce battle that day; and Abner was smitten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
18 Forsothe thre sones of Saruye weren there, Joab, and Abisai, and Asahel; forsothe Asahel was a `rennere moost swift, as oon of the capretis that dwellen in woodis.
And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.
19 Forsothe Asahel pursuede Abner, and bowide not, nether to the riyt side nether to the left side, ceessynge to pursue Abner.
And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.
20 Therfor Abner bihelde bihynde his bac, and seide, Whether thou art Asahel?
Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am.
21 Which answeride, Y am. And Abner seide to hym, Go to the riytside, ether to the lefte side; and take oon of the yonge men, and take to thee hise spuylis. Sotheli Asahel nolde ceesse, that ne he pursuede hym.
And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay hold on one of the young men, and take to thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.
22 And eft Abner spak to Asahel, Go thou awei; nyle thou pursue me, lest Y be compellid to peerse thee in to erthe, and Y schal not mowe reise my face to Joab, thi brother.
And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: why should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?
23 And Asahel dispiside to here, and nolde bowe awey. Therfor Abner smoot him `with the spere turned awei in the schar, and roof thorouy, and he was deed in the same place; and alle men that passiden bi the place, in which place Asahel felde doun, and was deed, stoden stille.
But he refused to turn aside: therefore Abner with the blunt 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.
24 Forsothe while Joab and Abisai pursueden Abner fleynge, the sunne yede doun; and thei camen til to the litil hil of the water cundiyt, which is euene ayens the valey, and the weie of deseert in Gabaon.
Joab also and Abishai pursued Abner: and the sun went down when they had come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
25 And the sones of Beniamyn weren gaderid to Abner, and thei weren gaderid togidere in to o cumpeny, and stoden in the hiynesse of oon heep of erthe.
And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill.
26 And Abner criede to Joab, and seide, Whether thi swerd schal be feers `til to sleyng? Whether thou knowist not, that dispeir is perelouse? Hou longe seist thou not to the puple, that it ceesse to pursue hise britheren?
Then 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, before thou wilt bid the people return from following their brethren?
27 And Joab seyde, The Lord lyueth, for if thou haddist spoke eerli, the puple pursuynge his brother hadde go awey.
And 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.
28 And Joab sownede with a clarioun, and al the oost stood; and thei pursueden no ferthere Israel, nether bigunnen batel.
So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued Israel no more, neither fought they any more.
29 Forsothe Abner and hise men yeden by the feeldi places of Moab in al that nyyt, and passiden Jordan; and whanne al Bethoron was compassid, thei camen to the castels.
And 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.
30 Sotheli whanne Abner was left, Joab turnede ayen, and gaderide togidere al the puple; and ten men and nyne, outakun Asahel, failiden of the children of Dauid.
And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel.
31 Forsothe the seruauntis of Dauid smytiden of Beniamyn, and of the men that weren with Abner, thre hundrid men and sixti, whiche also weren deed.
But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner’s men, so that three hundred and sixty men died.
32 And thei token Asahel, and birieden hym in the sepulcre of his fadir in Bethleem. And Joab, and the men that weren with hym, yeden in al that nyyt, and in thilke morewtid thei camen in to Ebron.
And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
