2Sa 2, 2Sa 7 | ESV | STEP | After this David inquired of the Lord , Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah ? And the Lord said to him, Go up . David said , To which shall I go up ? And he said , To Hebron .

1 After this David ^ainquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To ^bHebron.” 2 So David went up there, and ^chis two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 And David brought up ^dhis men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. 4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David ^eking over the house of Judah.

When they told David, ^f“It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” 5 David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, ^g“May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. 6 Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. 7 Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and ^hthe house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel

8 But ⁱAbner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^jMahanaim, 9 and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11 ^kAnd the time that David was king in Hebron over ^lthe house of Judah was seven years and six months.

The Battle of Gibeon

12 Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at ^mthe pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” 15 Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, ^{▼▼ Helkath-hazzurim means the field of sword-edges} which is at Gibeon. 17 And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

18 And the ^othree sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was ^pas swift of foot as a wild gazelle. 19 And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” 21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22 And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23 But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him ^qin the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” 27 And Joab said, “As God lives, if ^ryou had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.

29 And Abner and his men went all that night through ^sthe Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to ^tMahanaim. 30 Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men. 32 And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.

2 Samuel 7

The Lord’s Covenant with David

1 ^uNow when the king lived in his house and the Lord ^vhad given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to ^wNathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell ^xin a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells ^yin a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, ^z“Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^aaWould you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house ^absince the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about ^acin a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where ^adI have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with ^aeany of the judges ^{▼▼Compare 1 Chronicles 17:6; Hebrew tribes} of Israel, whom I commanded ^agto shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^ahI took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince ^{▼▼Or leader} over my people Israel. 9 ^ajAnd I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel ^akand will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place ^aland be disturbed no more. ^amAnd violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 ^anfrom the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And ^aoI will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that ^apthe Lord will make you a house. 12 ^aqWhen your days are fulfilled and ^aryou lie down with your fathers, ^asI will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 ^atHe shall build a house for my name, and ^auI will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 ^avI will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, ^awI will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 ^axbut my steadfast love will not depart from him, ^ayas I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 ^azAnd your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew you} ^bbYour throne shall be established forever.’” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer of Gratitude

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, ^bc“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. ^bdYou have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? ^beFor you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 ^bfTherefore you are great, O Lord God. ^bgFor there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 ^bhAnd who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name ^biand doing for them ^{▼▼With a few Targums, Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew you} great and awesome things by driving out ^{▼▼Septuagint (compare 1 Chronicles 17:21); Hebrew for your land} before your people, whom ^blyou redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 ^bmAnd you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. 25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and ^bnyour words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, ^boand with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”