2 Samuel 2
1 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 unto him, Go
up. And
David said, Whither shall I go
up? And he
said, Unto
Hebron. 2 So
David went
up thither, and his
two wives also,
Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess, and
Abigail Nabal's wife the
Carmelite. 3 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
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 And
David sent messengers unto the
men of
Jabeshgilead, and
said unto them,
Blessed be ye of the
LORD, that ye have
shewed this
kindness unto your
lord, even unto
Saul, and have
buried him.
6 And now the
LORD shew kindness and
truth unto you: and I also will
requite you this
kindness, because ye have
done this
thing. 7 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 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
king over
Gilead, and over the
Ashurites, and over
Jezreel, and over
Ephraim, and over
Benjamin, and over all
Israel. 10 Ishbosheth Saul's son was
forty years old when he began to
reign over
Israel, and
reigned two years. But the
house of
Judah followed David. 11 And the
time that David was
king in
Hebron over the
house of
Judah was
seven years and
six months. 12 And
Abner the
son of
Ner, and the
servants of
Ishbosheth the
son of
Saul, went
out from
Mahanaim to
Gibeon. 13 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 said to
Joab, Let the young
men now
arise, and
play before us. And
Joab said, Let them
arise.
15 Then there
arose and went
over by
number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to
Ishbosheth the
son of
Saul, and
twelve of the
servants of
David. 16 And they
caught every
one his
fellow by the
head, and thrust his
sword in his
fellow's side; so they fell
down together: wherefore that
place was
called Helkathhazzurim, which is in
Gibeon. 17 And there was a
very sore battle that
day; and
Abner was
beaten, and the
men of
Israel, before the
servants of
David. 18 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 And
Asahel pursued after Abner; and in
going he
turned not to the right
hand nor to the
left from
following Abner. 20 Then
Abner looked behind him, and
said, Art thou
Asahel? And he
answered, I am.
21 And
Abner said to him, Turn thee
aside to thy right
hand or to thy
left, and lay thee
hold on
one of the young
men, and
take thee his
armour. But
Asahel would not turn
aside from
following of him.
22 And
Abner said again to
Asahel, Turn thee
aside from
following me: wherefore should I
smite thee to the
ground? how then should I hold
up my
face to
Joab thy
brother? 23 Howbeit he
refused to turn
aside: wherefore
Abner with the hinder
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 Joab also and
Abishai pursued after Abner: and the
sun went
down when they were
come to the
hill of
Ammah, that lieth
before Giah by the
way of the
wilderness of
Gibeon. 25 And the
children of
Benjamin gathered themselves
together after Abner, and became
one troop, and
stood on the
top of an
hill. 26 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, ere thou
bid the
people return from
following their
brethren? 27 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 So
Joab blew a
trumpet, and all the
people stood
still, and
pursued after Israel no more, neither
fought they any
more.
29 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 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 But the
servants of
David had
smitten of
Benjamin, and of
Abner's men, so that
three hundred and
threescore men died.
32 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.