Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 After this, David asked the Lord, "Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?" "Yes," the Lord answered. "Which one?" David asked. "Hebron," the Lord said.
1
After this, David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” The LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” He said, “To Hebron.”
2 So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel.
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So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
3 He also took his men and their families, and they settled in the towns around Hebron.
3
David brought up his men who were with him, every man with his household. They lived in the cities of Hebron.
4 Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David as king of Judah. When David heard that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had buried Saul,
4
The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were those who buried Saul.”
5 he sent some men there with the message: "May the Lord bless you for showing your loyalty to your king by burying him.
5
David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “Blessed are you by the LORD, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him.
6 And now may the Lord be kind and faithful to you. I too will treat you well because of what you have done.
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Now may the LORD show loving kindness and truth to you. I also will reward you for this kindness, because you have done this thing.
7 Be strong and brave! Saul your king is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me as their king."
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Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.”
8 The commander of Saul's army, Abner son of Ner, had fled with Saul's son Ishbosheth across the Jordan to Mahanaim.
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Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.
9 There Abner made Ishbosheth king of the territories of Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin, and indeed over all Israel.
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He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
10 He was forty years old when he was made king of Israel, and he ruled for two years. But the tribe of Judah was loyal to David,
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Ishbosheth, 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 and he ruled in Hebron over Judah for seven and a half years.
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The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
12 Abner and the officials of Ishbosheth went from Mahanaim to the city of Gibeon.
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Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13 Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, and David's other officials met them at the pool, where they all sat down, one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the opposite side.
13
Joab the son of Zeruiah and David’s servants went out, and met them 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.
14 Abner said to Joab, "Let's have some of the young men from each side fight an armed contest." "All right," Joab answered.
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Abner said to Joab, “Please let the young men arise and compete before us!” Joab said, “Let them arise!”
15 So twelve men, representing Ishbosheth and the tribe of Benjamin, fought twelve of David's men.
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Then they arose and went over by number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of David’s servants.
16 Each man caught his opponent by the head and plunged his sword into his opponent's side, so that all twenty-four of them fell down dead together. And so that place in Gibeon is called "Field of Swords."
16
They each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.
17 Then a furious battle broke out, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David's men.
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The battle was very severe that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before David’s servants.
18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel, who could run as fast as a wild deer,
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The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was as light of foot as a wild gazelle.
19 started chasing Abner, running straight for him.
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Asahel pursued Abner. He didn’t turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner.
20 Abner looked back and said, "Is that you, Asahel?" "Yes," he answered.
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Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” He answered, “It is.”
21 "Stop chasing me!" Abner said. "Run after one of the soldiers and take what he has." But Asahel kept on chasing him.
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Abner said to him, “Turn away to your right hand or to your left, and grab one of the young men, and take his armor.” But Asahel would not turn away from following him.
22 Once more Abner said to him, "Stop chasing me! Why force me to kill you? How could I face your brother Joab?"
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Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn away from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I look Joab your brother in the face?”
23 But Asahel would not quit; so Abner, with a backward thrust of his spear, struck him through the stomach so that the spear came out at his back. Asahel dropped to the ground dead, and everyone who came to the place where he was lying stopped and stood there.
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However, he refused to turn away. Therefore Abner with the back end of the spear struck him in the body, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there and died in the same place. As many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
24 But Joab and Abishai started out after Abner, and at sunset they came to the hill of Ammah, which is to the east of Giah on the road to the wilderness of Gibeon.
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But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. The sun went down when they had come to the hill of Ammah, that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
25 The men from the tribe of Benjamin gathered around Abner again and took their stand on the top of a hill.
25
The children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner and became one band, and stood on the top of a hill.
26 Abner called out to Joab, "Do we have to go on fighting forever? Can't you see that in the end there will be nothing but bitterness? We are your relatives. How long will it be before you order your men to stop chasing us?"
26
Then Abner called to Joab, and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Don’t you know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long will it be then, before you ask the people to return from following their brothers?”
27 "I swear by the living God," Joab answered, "that if you had not spoken, my men would have kept on chasing you until tomorrow morning."
27
Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone away, and not each followed his brother.”
28 Then Joab blew the trumpet as a signal for his men to stop pursuing the Israelites; and so the fighting stopped.
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So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people stood still and pursued Israel no more, and they fought no more.
29 Abner and his men marched through the Jordan Valley all that night; they crossed the Jordan River, and after marching all the next morning, they arrived back at Mahanaim.
29
Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah; and they passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and came to Mahanaim.
30 When Joab gave up the chase, he gathered all his men and found that nineteen of them were missing, in addition to Asahel.
30
Joab returned from following Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen men of David’s and Asahel were missing.
31 David's men had killed 360 of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin.
31
But David’s servants had struck Benjamin and Abner’s men so that three hundred sixty men died.
32 Joab and his men took Asahel's body and buried it in the family tomb at Bethlehem. Then they marched all night and at dawn arrived back at Hebron.
32
They took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was in Bethlehem. Joab and his men went all night, and the day broke on them at Hebron.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.