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David Anointed King of Judah
After this, David asked the LORD, “Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?”
“Yes,” the LORD replied.
Then David asked, “Which town should I go to?”
“To Hebron,” the LORD answered.
After this, David asked the LORD, “Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?”
“Yes,” the LORD replied.
Then David asked, “Which town should I go to?”
“To Hebron,” the LORD answered.
David Anointed King of Judah
And it came to pass after this that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
And it came to pass after this that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
David’s two wives were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. So David and his wives
So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
and his men and their families all moved to Judah, and they settled in the villages near Hebron.
And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household; and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
Then the men of Judah came to David and anointed him king over the people of Judah.
When David heard that the men of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul,
When David heard that the men of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul,
And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, It is the men of Jabesh-Gilead that have buried Saul.
he sent them this message: “May the LORD bless you for being so loyal to your master Saul and giving him a decent burial.
And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of Jehovah, that ye have shewn this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him!
May the LORD be loyal to you in return and reward you with his unfailing love! And I, too, will reward you for what you have done.
And now Jehovah shew kindness and faithfulness to you; and I also will requite you this good, because ye have done this thing.
Now that Saul is dead, I ask you to be my strong and loyal subjects like the people of Judah, who have anointed me as their new king.”
And now let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.
Ish-Bosheth Made King of Israel
And Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
And Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.
and made him king over Gilead, and over the Asshurites, and over Jizreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king, and he ruled from Mahanaim for two years. Meanwhile, the people of Judah remained loyal to David.
Ishbosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. However, the house of Judah followed David.
David made Hebron his capital, and he ruled as king of Judah for seven and a half years.
And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
War between Israel and Judah
One day Abner led Ishbosheth’s troops from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
Civil War between Abner and Joab
And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
About the same time, Joab son of Zeruiah led David’s troops out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. The two groups sat down there, facing each other from opposite sides of the pool.
And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out. And they met together by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, these on the one side of the pool, and those on the other side of the pool.
Then Abner suggested to Joab, “Let’s have a few of our warriors fight hand to hand here in front of us.”
“All right,” Joab agreed.
“All right,” Joab agreed.
And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise and make sport before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
So twelve men were chosen to fight from each side — twelve men of Benjamin representing Ishbosheth son of Saul, and twelve representing David.
And they arose and went over by number, twelve for Benjamin, and for Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and [thrust] his sword in his fellow's side, and they fell down together. And that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is by Gibeon.
A fierce battle followed that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the forces of David.
And the battle that day was very severe; and Abner and the men of Israel were routed before the servants of David.
The Death of Asahel
Joab, Abishai, and Asahel — the three sons of Zeruiah — were among David’s forces that day. Asahel could run like a gazelle,
And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift of foot, as one of the gazelles that are in the field.
and he began chasing Abner. He pursued him relentlessly, not stopping for anything.
And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from behind Abner.
When Abner looked back and saw him coming, he called out, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“Yes, it is,” he replied.
“Yes, it is,” he replied.
Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he said, I am.
“Go fight someone else!” Abner warned. “Take on one of the younger men, and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel kept right on chasing Abner.
And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside, to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay hold of one of the young men, and take for thyself his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.
Again Abner shouted to him, “Get away from here! I don’t want to kill you. How could I ever face your brother Joab again?”
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?
But Asahel refused to turn back, so Abner thrust the butt end of his spear through Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He stumbled to the ground and died there. And everyone who came by that spot stopped and stood still when they saw Asahel lying there.
But he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the belly, so 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.
When Joab and Abishai found out what had happened, they set out after Abner. The sun was just going down as they arrived at the hill of Ammah near Giah, along the road to the wilderness of Gibeon.
And Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner; and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
Abner’s troops from the tribe of Benjamin regrouped there at the top of the hill to take a stand.
And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of a hill.
Abner shouted down to Joab, “Must we always be killing each other? Don’t you realize that bitterness is the only result? When will you call off your men from chasing their Israelite brothers?”
And Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? and how long shall it be ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
Then Joab said, “God only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t spoken, for we would have chased you all night if necessary.”
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.
So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men stopped chasing the troops of Israel.
And Joab blew the trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither did they fight any more.
And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.
Meanwhile, Joab and his men also returned home. When Joab counted his casualties, he discovered that only 19 men were missing in addition to Asahel.
And Joab returned from following Abner, and gathered all the people together; and there lacked of David's servants nineteen men, and Asahel.
But 360 of Abner’s men had been killed, all from the tribe of Benjamin.
And the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, three hundred and sixty men, who had died.
Joab and his men took Asahel’s body to Bethlehem and buried him there in his father’s tomb. Then they traveled all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.
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.