2Sa 4 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now when Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son , heard that Abner had died in Hebron , he lost courage , and all Israel was disturbed .

2 Samuel 4

Ish-bosheth Murdered

1 Now when ^{▼▼ So some ancient mss; M.T. he}Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that ^bAbner had died in Hebron, ^{▼▼ Lit his hands dropped
,} ^dhe lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed. 2 Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for ^eBeeroth is also considered ^f part of Benjamin, 3 and the Beerothites fled to ^gGittaim and have been aliens there until this day).

4 Now ^hJonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the ⁱreport of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was ^{▼▼ I.e. Merib-baal
,} ^kMephibosheth.

5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of ^lIsh-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 ^{▼▼ Lit And here}They came to the middle of the house as ^{▼▼ Lit takers of wheat}if to get wheat, and ^othey struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and ^{▼▼ Lit went
,} ^qtraveled by way of the Arabah all night. 8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth ^rthe son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants.”

9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, ^twho has redeemed my life from all distress, 10 ^uwhen one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and ^{▼▼ Lit he was as a bearer of good news in his own eyes}thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 “How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now ^wrequire his blood from your hand and ^{▼▼ Lit burn}destroy you from the earth?” 12 Then ^yDavid commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth ^zand buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.