2Sa 2 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then it came about afterward 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 afterward 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, “ ^bTo 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 settled in the cities of Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came, and there they ^fanointed David king over the house of Judah.

And they told David, saying, “It was ^gthe men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.” 5 So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “ ^hMay you be blessed of the Lord because you have ^{▼▼Lit done}shown this kindness to Saul your lord, and have buried him. 6 And now ^jmay the Lord ^{▼▼Lit do}show kindness and truth to you; and I also will ^{▼▼Lit do}show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. 7 Now then, let your hands be strong and be ^{▼▼Lit sons of valor}valiant, since 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 And 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 And ^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 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 on}Abner’s men on the one side of the pool and ^{▼▼Lit these on}Joab’s men on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Now have the young men arise and ^aahold a martial skills match in our presence.” And Joab said, “Have them arise!” 15 So they got up and went over by count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16 And 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 ^aeAbner and the men of Israel were defeated ^{▼▼Lit in front of}by the servants of David.

18 Now ^agthe three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was ^ahas ^{▼▼Lit light in his feet}swift-footed as one of the gazelles that is in the field. 19 Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn ^{▼▼Lit to go to}to the right or to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind himself and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” And he said, “It is I!” 21 So Abner said to him, “Turn aside for your own good to your right or to your left, and take hold of one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his equipment.” But Asahel was unwilling to turn aside from following him. 22 Then Abner repeated again to Asahel, “Turn aside for your own good from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? ^akHow then could I ^{▼▼Lit lift up}show my face to your brother Joab?” 23 However, he refused to turn aside; so 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 happened that all who came thereafter to the place where ^amAsahel 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 opposite Giah by way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one troop, and they stood on the top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Should the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that it will be bitter in the end? So how long will you ^{▼▼Lit not tell the people}refrain from telling the people to turn back from pursuing their kinsmen?” 27 Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, then the people of Judah certainly would have withdrawn in the morning, each from pursuing his brother.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the people halted and no longer pursued Israel, ^aonor 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 ^apMahanaim.

30 Then Joab returned from pursuing Abner; but he gathered all the people together, and ^{▼▼Lit nineteen men}nineteen of David’s servants were missing, besides Asahel. 31 However, the servants of David had struck and killed many of Benjamin and Abner’s men; 360 men were dead. 32 And they carried Asahel away and buried him ^arin his father’s tomb, which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men traveled all night until the day ^{▼▼Lit dawned for them}dawned at Hebron.