2Sa 3:27-39 | NASB2020 | STEP | So when Abner returned to Hebron , Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately , and there he struck him in the belly , so that he died on account of the blood of his brother Asahel .

2 Samuel 3:27-39

27 So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there ^ahe struck him in the belly, so that he died on account of the blood of his brother Asahel. 28 Afterward, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29 ^bMay it turn upon the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and may there not be eliminated from the house of Joab ^csomeone who suffers a discharge, or has leprosy, or ^{▼▼I.e., an effeminate man; LXX holds on to a staff (prob. a crutch)}holds the spindle, or falls by the sword, or lacks bread.” 30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner ^ebecause he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

David Mourns Abner

31 Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “ ^fTear your clothes and put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier. 32 And they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king raised his voice and wept at ^gthe grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33 And ^hthe king sang a song of mourning for Abner and said,

“Should Abner die as a fool dies?
34 “Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in bronze shackles;
As one falls before the ^{▼▼Lit sons of wickedness}wicked, you have fallen.”
And all the people wept over him again. 35 Then all the people came ^jto provide ^{▼▼Lit bread}food for David in his distress while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, “ ^lMay God do so to me, and more so, if I taste bread or anything else ^mbefore the sun goes down.” 36 Now all the people took note of David’s vow, and it ^{▼▼Lit was good in their eyes}pleased them, just as everything that the king did ^{▼▼Lit was good in the eyes of all}pleased all the people. 37 So all the people and all Israel understood on that day that it had not been the desire of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death. 38 Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a leader and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? 39 And I am ^pweak today, though anointed king; and these men, ^qthe sons of Zeruiah, are too difficult for me. ^rMay the Lord repay the evildoer in proportion to his evil.”