New Living Translation

New King James Version

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.

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David Anointed King of Judah

It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?”
And the Lord said to him, “Go up.”
David said, “Where shall I go up?”
And He said, “To Hebron.”

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David’s two wives were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. So David and his wives

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

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and his men and their families all moved to Judah, and they settled in the villages near Hebron.

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And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

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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,

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Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.”

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he sent them this message: “May the LORD bless you for being so loyal to your master Saul and giving him a decent burial.

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So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “You are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him.

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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.

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And now may the Lord show kindness and truth to you. I also will repay you this kindness, because you have done this thing.

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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.”

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Now therefore, let your hands be strengthened, and be valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

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Ishbosheth Proclaimed King of Israel

But Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had already gone to Mahanaim with Saul’s son Ishbosheth.a

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Ishbosheth Made King of Israel

But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took [a]Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim;

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There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.

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and he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

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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.

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Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David.

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David made Hebron his capital, and he ruled as king of Judah for seven and a half years.

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And the [b]time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

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War between Israel and Judah

One day Abner led Ishbosheth’s troops from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

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Israel and Judah at War

Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

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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.

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And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool.

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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.

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Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.”
And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

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So twelve men were chosen to fight from each side — twelve men of Benjamin representing Ishbosheth son of Saul, and twelve representing David.

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So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

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Each one grabbed his opponent by the hair and thrust his sword into the other’s side so that all of them died. So this place at Gibeon has been known ever since as the Field of Swords.b

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And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called [c]the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon.

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A fierce battle followed that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the forces of David.

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So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

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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,

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Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle.

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and he began chasing Abner. He pursued him relentlessly, not stopping for anything.

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So Asahel pursued Abner, and in going he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner.

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When Abner looked back and saw him coming, he called out, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“Yes, it is,” he replied.

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Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Are you Asahel?”
He answered, “I am.”

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“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.

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And Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.

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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?”

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So Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I face your brother Joab?”

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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.

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However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still.

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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.

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Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner. And the sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by the road to the Wilderness of Gibeon.

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Abner’s troops from the tribe of Benjamin regrouped there at the top of the hill to take a stand.

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Now the children of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became [d]a unit, and took their stand on top of a hill.

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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?”

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Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren?”

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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.”

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And Joab said, “As God lives, [e]unless you had spoken, surely then by morning all the people would have given up pursuing their brethren.”

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So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men stopped chasing the troops of Israel.

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So Joab blew a trumpet; and all the people stood still and did not pursue Israel anymore, nor did they fight anymore.

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All that night Abner and his men retreated through the Jordan Valley.c They crossed the Jordan River, traveling all through the morning,d and didn’t stop until they arrived at Mahanaim.

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Then Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron; and they came to Mahanaim.

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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.

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So Joab returned from pursuing Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel.

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But 360 of Abner’s men had been killed, all from the tribe of Benjamin.

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But the servants of David had struck down, of Benjamin and Abner’s men, three hundred and sixty men who died.

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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.

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Then they took up Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak.

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

2 Samuel 2

2 Samuel 2