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33 Then the king sang a funeral song about Abner:

Abner, why should you
    have died like an outlaw?[a]
34 No one tied your hands
    or chained your feet,
yet you died as a victim
    of murderers.

Everyone started crying again. 35 Then they brought some food to David and told him he would feel better if he had something to eat. It was still daytime, and David said, “I swear to God that I won't take a bite of bread or anything else until sunset!”

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Footnotes

  1. 3.33 outlaw: Or “fool.”

33 The king sang this lament(A) for Abner:

“Should Abner have died as the lawless die?
34     Your hands were not bound,
    your feet were not fettered.(B)
You fell as one falls before the wicked.”

And all the people wept over him again.

35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,(C) if I taste bread(D) or anything else before the sun sets!”

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