David Anointed King of Judah 1 UST Sometime after that, David asked Yahweh,“Should I return to Judah and live in one of the cities there?” Yahweh replied,“Yes, return to Judah.” Then David asked,“To which city should I go?” Yahweh replied,“You should go to Hebron.” BSB BSB: Some time later, David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” “Go up,” the LORD answered. Then David asked, “Where should I go?” “To Hebron,” replied the LORD.
2 UST So David went to Hebron. He brought his two wives with him. They were Ahinoam, who was from the city of Jezreel, and Abigail, who was from the city of Carmel. She had been married to Nabal before he died. BSB BSB: So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
3 UST David also brought the men who had been with him, together with their families. They all settled in the city of Hebron and in the surrounding towns and villages. BSB BSB: David also took the men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.
4 UST Then the men who were the leaders of the tribe of Judah came to Hebron. One of them poured olive oil on David’ s head to show they were appointing him to be the king of the tribe of Judah. Someone told David how soldiers from the city of Jabesh in the region of Gilead had recaptured Saul’ s body{ from the wall of Beth Shan} and how the people of that city had buried his body honorably. BSB BSB: Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”
5 UST So David sent messengers to the people who lived in that city. He told the messengers to tell them,“I hope that Yahweh will do good things for you because you buried Saul’ s body honorably. By doing that, you treated Saul with the loyalty that he deserved as your king. BSB BSB: So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him.
6 UST So this is what I hope will happen. I hope that Yahweh will be just as loyal to you all the time. And I will personally do good things for you because of the good way you treated Saul. BSB BSB: Now may the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this.
7 UST Now this is what I hope you will do. Even though Saul, who was your king, has died, do not become discouraged. Instead, continue to fight bravely against the Philistines. The people of the tribe of Judah have appointed me to be their king{, and I will lead their army to come and help you as soon as I can}.” BSB BSB: Now then, be strong and courageous, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”
Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel 8 UST But instead, Abner son of Ner, who had been Saul’ s army commander, brought Ish Bosheth son of Saul across the Jordan River to the city of Mahanaim. BSB BSB: Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim,
9 UST So that Ish Bosheth could rule over it, Abner steadily reconquered the territory that the Philistines had captured from the Israelites. Ish Bosheth first ruled the region of Gilead east of the Jordan River, which the Philistines had not captured. Abner then reconquered the territory west of the Jordan River and north of the Valley of Jezreel, where the people of tribes such as Asher lived. Abner then reconquered the Valley of Jezreel itself. He then reconquered the territory west of the Jordan River and south of the Valley of Jezreel, where the people of tribes such as Ephraim lived. Abner was able to reconquer that territory all the way south to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. That made Ish Bosheth the king of all the territory that would later be the northern kingdom of Israel{ after it divided from the southern kingdom of Judah}. BSB BSB: and made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel.
10 UST Ish Bosheth son of Saul was 40 years old when he started to rule over the Israelite people. He ruled them for two years. But David was the king of the people of the tribe of Judah. BSB BSB: Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.
11 UST David ruled them for seven and a half years while he was living in Hebron. BSB BSB: And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
The Battle of Gibeon 12 UST One day Abner son of Ner led some soldiers from the army of Ish Bosheth son of Saul across the Jordan River from Mahanaim to the city of Gibeon. BSB BSB: One day Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13 UST Joab son of Zeruiah led a group of David’ s soldiers from Hebron to Gibeon. They found Abner and his soldiers near the large pool of water there. Joab had his soldiers stay on one side of the pool and sit down. Abner had his soldiers sit down on the other side. BSB BSB: So Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. And the two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.
14 UST Then Abner said to Joab,“Let us have some of our soldiers fight each other while the rest of us watch!” Joab replied,“Yes, let us do that!” BSB BSB: Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” “Let them get up,” Joab replied.
15 UST So Abner chose 12 men from his own tribe of Benjamin to fight on behalf of Ish Bosheth son of Saul. They went over to the other side of the pool and fought against 12 soldiers whom Joab chose to fight on behalf of David. BSB BSB: So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David.
16 UST Each soldier grabbed the man he was fighting against by the hair. That enabled him to thrust his dagger into that man’ s side. The result was that these 24 soldiers all killed each other. That is why people now call the place near Gibeon where they fought Helkath Hazzurim. BSB BSB: Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side, and they all fell together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is called Helkath-hazzurim.
17 UST Then the two whole groups of soldiers started fighting each other. It was a very fierce battle. But as they fought, David’ s soldiers defeated Abner and the soldiers from the other tribes of Israel. BSB BSB: The battle that day was intense, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David.
18 UST Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, Zeruiah’ s three sons, were in that battle. Asahel was able to run very fast, the way wild gazelles run very fast. BSB BSB: The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,
19 UST When Abner fled from the battle, Asahel chased him. No matter which way Abner went to try to escape, Asahel kept following him. BSB BSB: and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit.
20 UST Abner looked behind him to see who was chasing him. He called out,“Is that you, Asahel?” Asahel answered,“Yes, it is!” BSB BSB: And Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” “It is,” Asahel replied.
21 UST Abner shouted back,“Chase somebody else! Try to catch one of the younger soldiers and defeat him and take his armor.” But Asahel would not stop chasing Abner. BSB BSB: So Abner told him, “Turn to your right or to your left, seize one of the young men, and take his equipment for yourself.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
22 UST So Abner shouted at him again,“Stop chasing me! Do not make me fight you, because I would kill you. Then I could never again have a peaceful relationship with your brother Joab, because he would want to get revenge against me.” BSB BSB: Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?”
23 UST But Asahel refused to stop chasing Abner. So Abner let Asahel nearly catch him, then he suddenly stopped and swung the butt end of his spear into Asahel’ s stomach as he was still running fast toward him. The force was so great that the end of the spear went right through Asahel’ s stomach and came out his back. Asahel was wounded so badly that he fell down and died right there. When other soldiers came to the place where Asahel’ s dead body was lying in the roadway, they all stopped and stood there. BSB BSB: But Asahel refused to turn away. So Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.
24 UST But when Joab and Abishai saw what had happened, they ran off in pursuit of Abner. At sunset they came to the hill of Ammah, which is near the town of Giah along the road that leads into the desolate area near Gibeon. BSB BSB: But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
25 UST The soldiers who had come with Abner were from the tribe of Benjamin. He had regrouped them into a line of battle on the top of that hill. BSB BSB: The Benjamites rallied to Abner, formed a single unit, and took their stand atop a hill.
26 UST Then Abner called out to Joab,“We should not continue this deadly battle any longer! You must realize that if we continue fighting, many people will suffer great harm. We are all Israelites, so please tell your soldiers right now to stop chasing us!” BSB BSB: Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
27 UST Joab replied,“Even if you had not said that, I would certainly have told my soldiers tonight to stop chasing their fellow Israelites. I swear by God that this is true.” BSB BSB: “As surely as God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops would have continued pursuing their brothers until morning.”
28 UST Then Joab blew a long, loud note on a ram’ s horn to signal that his soldiers should stop fighting. So all his men stopped where they were and no longer pursued the soldiers from the other tribes of Israel. That was the end of that battle. BSB BSB: So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight.
29 UST That night Abner led his soldiers back through the Jordan River valley. They crossed the river and marched all the next morning. Then they finally arrived back at Mahanaim. BSB BSB: And all that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning, and arrived at Mahanaim.
30 UST After his soldiers stopped chasing Abner, Joab gathered them all together. He counted them, and he found out that besides Asahel, 19 of them had died in the battle. BSB BSB: When Joab returned from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, nineteen of David’s servants were missing,
31 UST But David’ s soldiers had killed 360 soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin and among the soldiers from other tribes who had come to Gibeon with Abner. BSB BSB: but they had struck down 360 Benjamites who were with Abner.
32 UST Some of Joab’ s soldiers carried Asahel’ s body from the battlefield to the town of Bethlehem and buried it in the same tomb where people had buried his father. Then Joab and his soldiers marched all through the night, and at dawn they arrived back home at Hebron. BSB BSB: And they took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.