2 Samuel 2

¹ And it came to pass after this, that DavidBy means of the high priest, (1Sa_23:2; 2Sa_5:19).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, UntoWhich was also called Kirjatharba (Jos_14:15).Hebron.

² So Dauid went vp thither, and his two wiues also, Ahinoam the Izreelite, and Abigail Nabals wife the Carmelite.

³ And his men that [were] withIn the time of his persecution.him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

⁴ Then the men of Iudah came, and there they anoynted Dauid King ouer the house of Iudah; they tolde Dauid, saying, that the men of Iabesh Gilead buried Saul.

⁵ And Dauid sent messengers vnto the men of Iabesh Gilead, and said vnto them, Blessed are ye of the Lord, that yee haue shewed such kindenes vnto your lord Saul, that you haue buried him.

⁶ And now the LORD shew kindness andAccording to his promise, which is to repay those who are merciful.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 meSo that you shall not want a captain and a defender.king over them.

⁸ But Abner the sonne of Ner that was captaine of Sauls hoste, tooke Ish-bosheth the sonne of Saul, and brought him to Mahanaim,

⁹ And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and overOver the eleven tribes.all Israel.

¹⁰ Ish-bosheth Sauls sonne was fourtie yeere olde wen he began to reigne ouer Israel, and reigned two yeere: but the house of Iudah followed Dauid.

¹¹ And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and sixAfter this he reigned over all the country 33 years, (2Sa_5:5).months.

¹² And Abner the sonne of Ner, and the seruantes of Ish-bosheth the sonne of Saul went out of Mahanaim to Gibeon.

¹³ And Ioab the sonne of Zeruiah, and the seruants of Dauid went out and met one another by the poole of Gibeon: and they sate downe, the one on the one side of the poole, and the other on the otherside of the poole.

¹⁴ And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, andLet us see how they can handle their weapons.play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

¹⁵ Then there arose and went ouer twelue of Beniamin by number, which perteined to Ish-bosheth the sonne of Saul, and twelue of the seruants of Dauid.

¹⁶ And they caught every one hisMeaning his adversary.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,After that these four and twenty were slain.before the servants of David.

¹⁸ And there were three sonnes of Zeruiah there, Ioab, and Abishai, and Asahel; Asahel was as light on foote as a wilde roe.

¹⁹ And Asahel followed after Abner, and in going he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from Abner.

²⁰ Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, Yea.

²¹ Then Abner said, Turne thee either to the right hande, or to the left, and take one of the yong men, and take thee his weapons: and Asahel would not depart from him.

²² And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me:Why do you provoke me to kill you?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 theSome read, in those parts where the lively parts lie, the heart, lungs, liver, and gall bladder.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 Ioab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sunne went downe, when they were come to the hill Ammah, that lieth before Giah, by the way of the wildernesse of Gibeon.

²⁵ And the children of Beniamin gathered them selues together after Abner, and were on an heape and stoode on the top of an hill.

²⁶ Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall theShall we not make an end of murdering?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 hadstIf you had not provoked them to battle, (2Sa_2:14).spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.

²⁸ So Ioab blew a trumpet, and all the people stoode still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.

²⁹ And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plaine, and went ouer Iorden, and past through all Bithron till they came to Mahanaim.

³⁰ Ioab also returned backe from Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of Dauids seruants nineteene men and Asahel.

³¹ But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, [so that] threeThus God would confirm David in his kingdom by the destruction of his adversaries.hundred and threescore men died.

³² And they tooke vp Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem: and Ioab and his men went all night, & when they came to Hebron, the day arose.