2 Samuel 2

¹And it came to pass after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying, 'Shall I go up to one 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.'

²So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

³And his men who were with him David brought up, each man with his household, and they settled in the cities of Hebron.

⁴And the men of Judah came and there anointed David as king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, 'The men of Jabesh-gilead are those who buried Saul.'

⁵And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, 'Blessed are you to the LORD, for you have shown this loyalty to your lord, to Saul, and buried him.'

⁶And now may the LORD deal with you in loyalty and faithfulness, and I also will deal with you this good, because you have done this thing.

⁷And now, let your hands be strong, and be valiant men, for your lord Saul has died; and also me the house of Judah has anointed as king over them.

⁸But Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army of Saul, took Ish-bosheth son of Saul and brought him across to Mahanaim.

⁹And he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurim, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

¹⁰Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

¹¹And the number of the days that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

¹²And Abner son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

¹³And Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out, and they met one another at the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down together, these on one side of the pool and those on the other side of the pool.

¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, 'Let the young men arise and play before us.' And Joab said, 'Let them arise.'

¹⁵And they arose and crossed over by number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

¹⁶And each man grasped the head of his fellow, with his sword in the side of his fellow; and they fell together. So that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

¹⁷And the battle was very fierce that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated before the servants of David.

¹⁸Now there were there three sons of Zeruiah: Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. And Asahel was swift of foot like one of the gazelles that are in the field.

¹⁹And Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn aside to go to the right or to the left from behind Abner.

²⁰Then Abner turned behind him and said, 'Are you Asahel?' And he said, 'I am.'

²¹And Abner said to him, 'Turn aside to your right or to your left, and seize one of the young men for yourself, and take his gear for yourself.' But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him.

²²And Abner spoke to Asahel again, saying, 'Turn aside from following me; why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to Joab your brother?'

²³But he refused to turn aside, so Abner struck him in the belly with the butt of the spear, and the spear came out at his back, and he fell there and died on the spot. And it came to pass that all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died stood still.

²⁴And Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner; and the sun went down, and they came as far as the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵And the Benjaminites gathered themselves together behind Abner, and they became a single band and took their stand on the top of a certain hill.

²⁶And Abner called to Joab and said, 'Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you not tell the people to turn back from following their brothers?'

²⁷And Joab said, 'As God lives, if you had not spoken, then from the morning the people would have gone up, each one from pursuing his brother.'

²⁸And Joab blew the shofar, and all the people stood still and pursued Israel no more, nor did they continue any longer to fight.

²⁹And Abner and his men marched through the Arabah all that night and crossed the Jordan and went through all the Bithron and came to Mahanaim.

³⁰And Joab returned from following Abner, and when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David's servants nineteen men and Asahel.

³¹But the servants of David had struck down from Benjamin and among the men of Abner, so that three hundred and sixty men died.

³²And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which is in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men went all night, and the light dawned on them at Hebron.