2Sa 2:8-32, 3:11-14, Psa 89:40, Isa 7:8, Jer 14:17, 48:38, Hag 2:6-7 | ESV | STEP | But Abner the son of Ner , commander of Saul’s army , took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim ,

8 But ^aAbner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^bMahanaim, 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 ^cAnd the time that David was king in Hebron over ^dthe 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 ^ethe 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 ^gthree sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was ^has 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 ⁱin 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 ^jyou 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 ^kthe Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to ^lMahanaim. 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 3:11-14

11 And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

12 And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, ^{▼▼Or where he was; Septuagint at Hebron} saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.” 13 And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, ⁿyou shall not see my face unless you first bring ^oMichal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” 14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, ^pfor whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”

Psalms 89:40

40 You have ^qbreached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.

Isaiah 7:8

8 For the head of Syria is ^rDamascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.

Jeremiah 14:17

17 “You shall say to them this word:
^s‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin ^tdaughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
^uwith a very grievous blow.

Jeremiah 48:38

38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ^va vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord.

Haggai 2:6-7

6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^wYet once more, in a little while, ^xI will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and ^yI will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.