20
And he came to David, in Hebron, with twenty men. And David made a feast to Abner, and to the men that came with him (And David made a feast for Abner, and the men who came with him).
21
And Abner said to David, I shall rise up, that I gather all Israel to thee, my lord the king, and that I make (a) bond of peace with thee, and that thou reign on all, as thy soul desireth. Therefore when David had led forth Abner, and he had gone in peace, (And Abner said to David, I shall rise up, and gather all Israel to thee, my lord the king, and they shall make a covenant with thee, and thou shalt reign upon all of them, as thy soul desireth. And after David had let Abner go away, with a guarantee of surety, or of safety,)
22
anon the servants of David and Joab came with a full great prey, when the thieves were slain; and Abner was not then with David, in Hebron, for David had let him go, and he went forth in peace. (shortly thereafter David's men and Joab came back from a raid, with a great deal of prey; and Abner was then not with David, in Hebron, for David had let him go away, with a guarantee of safety.)
23
And Joab, and the hosts that were with him, came afterward; therefore it was told to Joab of tellers, (saying,) Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and the king let go him, and he went forth in peace. (And so Joab, and the men who were with him, came shortly thereafter; and people said to Joab, Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and the king let him go away, with a guarantee of safety.)
24
And Joab entered to the king, and said, What hast thou done? Lo! Abner came to thee; why lettest go thou him (why hast thou let him go), and he went, and departed from thee?
25
Knowest thou not (that) Abner, the son of Ner, for hereto he came to thee, that he should deceive thee, and that he should know thy going out and thine entering, and should know all things which thou doest? (Thou must know that Abner, the son of Ner, came to thee so that he could deceive thee, and learn thy going out and thy coming in, and so know all the things that thou doest.)
26
Therefore Joab went out from David, and sent messengers after Abner; and led him again from the cistern of Sirah (and they brought him back from the Well of Sirah), while David knew not.
27
And when Abner had come again into Hebron, Joab led him asides half to the middle of the gate, (as if) that he should speak to him in guile; and he smote Abner there in the share-bone, and he was dead, into vengeance of the blood of his brother Asahel (and Joab struck, or stabbed, Abner in the belly, and he died there, in revenge for killing Joab's brother Asahel).
28
That when David had heard this thing done, he said, I am clean, and my realm, with God into without end from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner; (And when David had heard that this thing was done, he said, I and my kingdom, be clean with God forevermore, of the blood, or of the murder, of Abner, the son of Ner;)
29
and come it on the head of Joab, and upon all the house of his father; and fail there not from the house of Joab a man suffering flowing of seed, and a leprous man, (and a man) holding a spindle, and a man falling by sword, and (a man) having need to bread. (yea, let it come upon Joab's head, and upon all his father's family; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab a man suffering the flowing out of his seed, or a leprous man, or a man holding a spindle, or a man falling by the sword, or a man having need of bread.)
30
Therefore Joab, and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner, for he had slain Asahel, their brother (for he had killed their brother Asahel), in Gibeon, in battle.