2Sa 2 | NASB1995 | STEP | Then it came about afterwards 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.” So David said , “ Where shall I go up?” And He said , “ To Hebron .”

2 Samuel 2

David Made King over Judah

1 Then it came about afterwards that ^aDavid inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” So David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, ^b“To Hebron.” 2 So David went up there, and ^chis two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the ^{▼▼ Lit wife}widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 And ^eDavid brought up his men who were with him, each with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came and there ^fanointed David king over the house of Judah.

And they told David, saying, “It was ^gthe men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.” 5 David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, ^h“May you be blessed of the Lord because you have ^{▼▼ Lit done}shown this kindness to Saul your lord, and have buried him. 6 “Now ^jmay the Lord ^{▼▼ Lit do}show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will ^{▼▼ Lit do}show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. 7 “Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be ^{▼▼ Lit sons of valor}valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ish-bosheth Made King over Israel

8 But ⁿAbner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken ^{▼▼ I.e. man of shame; cf 1 Chr 8:33, Eshbaal}Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^pMahanaim. 9 He made him king over ^qGilead, over the ^rAshurites, over ^sJezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was king for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. 11 ^tThe ^{▼▼ Lit number of days}time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Civil War

12 Now Abner the son of Ner, went out from Mahanaim to ^vGibeon with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul. 13 And ^wJoab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met ^{▼▼ Lit them together}them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, ^{▼▼ Lit these}one on the one side of the pool and ^{▼▼ Lit these}the other on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Now let the young men arise and ^{▼▼ Lit make sport
,} ^abhold a contest before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” 15 So they arose and went over by count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 Each one of them seized his ^{▼▼ Lit fellow}opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his ^{▼▼ Lit fellow’s}opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called ^{▼▼ I.e. the field of sword-edges}Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17 That day the battle was very severe, and ^afAbner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

18 Now ^agthe three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel; and Asahel was ^ah as ^{▼▼ Lit light in his feet}swift-footed as one of the gazelles which is in the field. 19 Asahel pursued Abner and did not ^{▼▼ Lit turn to go to}turn to the right or to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” 21 So Abner said to him, ^{▼▼ Lit Turn for yourself}“Turn to your right or to your left, and take hold of one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his spoil.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 22 Abner repeated again to Asahel, “Turn ^{▼▼ Lit aside for yourself}aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? ^amHow then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23 However, he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died on the spot. And it came about that all who came to the place where ^anAsahel had fallen and died, stood still.

24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and when the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 The sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one band, and they stood on the top of a certain hill. 26 Then 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 ^{▼▼ Lit not tell the people}refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers?” 27 Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then the people would have gone away in the morning, each from following his brother.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and pursued Israel no longer, ^apnor did they continue to fight anymore. 29 Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to ^aqMahanaim.

30 Then Joab returned from following Abner; when he had gathered all the people together, ^{▼▼ Lit nineteen men}nineteen of David’s servants besides Asahel were missing. 31 But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men, so that three hundred and sixty men died. 32 And they took up Asahel and buried him ^asin his father’s tomb which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men went all night until the day ^{▼▼ Lit lighted on them}dawned at Hebron.