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BibleCompass

/Chapter 2

2 / 24

2 Samuel

ESV

Chapter 2

¹After this David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” ²So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. ⁴And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” ⁵David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord, and buried him. ⁶Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I will myself show you kindness because you have done this thing. ⁷Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.” ⁸But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, ⁹and he made him king over Gilead and over the Ashurites and over Jezreel and over Ephraim and over Benjamin and over all Israel. ¹⁰Ish-bosheth, 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. ¹¹And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. ¹²Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at 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. ¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and play before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” ¹⁵So there arose and went over by number twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side, so that they fell down together. Therefore 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 beaten before the servants of David. ¹⁸Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. And Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. ¹⁹And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner. ²⁰Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” ²¹Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. ²²And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I look your brother Joab in the face?” ²³But he refused to turn aside. So Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died in the same place. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still. ²⁴But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one company and took their stand on the top of a hill. ²⁶Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” ²⁷And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would have given up the pursuit of their brothers in the morning.” ²⁸So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the people stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore. ²⁹Abner and his men went through all that night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching through all Bithron, they came to Mahanaim. ³⁰Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David's servants nineteen men besides Asahel. ³¹But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner's men. ³²And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.