1
And it came to pass after this, that Davidenquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORDsaid unto him, Go up. And Davidsaid, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
2
So David went up thither, and his twowives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite.
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And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
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And the men of Judahcame, and there they anointedDavidking over the house of Judah. And they toldDavid, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buriedSaul.
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And Davidsentmessengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him.
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And now the LORDshewkindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing.
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Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant: for your masterSaul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.
8
But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, tookIshbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
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And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
10Ishbosheth Saul's son was fortyyearsold when he began to reign over Israel, and reignedtwoyears. But the house of JudahfollowedDavid.
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And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was sevenyears and sixmonths.
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And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
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And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and mettogether by the 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.
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And Abnersaid to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and playbefore us. And Joabsaid, Let them arise.
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Then there arose and went over by numbertwelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
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And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell downtogether: wherefore that place was calledHelkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.
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And there was a verysorebattle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
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And there were threesons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as awildroe.
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And AsahelpursuedafterAbner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from followingAbner.
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Then Abnerlookedbehind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am.
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And Abnersaid to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahelwould not turn aside from following of him.
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And Abnersaidagain to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?
23
Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spearsmote him under the fifth rib, that the spearcameoutbehind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
24Joab also and AbishaipursuedafterAbner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth beforeGiah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
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And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves togetherafterAbner, and became onetroop, and stood on the top of an hill.
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Then Abnercalled to Joab, and said, Shall the sworddevour for ever?knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the peoplereturn from following their brethren?
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And Joabsaid, As Godliveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
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So Joabblew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursuedafterIsrael no more, neither fought they any more.
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And Abner and his menwalked all that nightthrough the plain, and passed overJordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.
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And Joabreturned from followingAbner: and when he had gathered all the peopletogether, there lacked of David's servantsnineteenmen and Asahel.
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But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, so that threehundred and threescoremendied.
32
And they took upAsahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his menwent all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.