² the king said to the prophet Nathan,^(A) “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”^(B)

David, King of Judah

2 Some time later, David inquired of the Lord:^(A) “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?”

The Lord answered him, “Go.”

Then David asked, “Where should I go?”

“To Hebron,”^(B) the Lord replied.

² So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.^{(C) 3} In addition, David brought the men who were with him, each one with his family, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.^{(D) 4} Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.^(E) They told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”^(F)

⁵ David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “The Lord bless you because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him. ⁶ Now, may the Lord show kindness and faithfulness to you, and I will also show the same goodness to you because you have done this deed. ⁷ Therefore, be strong^[a] and valiant, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

⁸ Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army,^(G) took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth^[b][c] and moved him to Mahanaim. ⁹ He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin—over all Israel. ¹⁰ Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel; he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. ¹¹ The length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.^(H)

¹² Abner son of Ner and soldiers of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³ So Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s soldiers marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon.^(I) The two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

¹⁴ Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young men get up and compete in front of us.”

“Let them get up,” Joab replied.

¹⁵ So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from David’s soldiers. ¹⁶ Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side so that they all died together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is named Field of Blades.^[d]

¹⁷ The battle that day was extremely fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s soldiers. ¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel.^(J) Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the wild gazelles.^{(K) 19} He chased Abner and did not turn to the right or the left in his pursuit of him. ²⁰ Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

“Yes it is,” Asahel replied.

²¹ Abner said to him, “Turn to your right or left, seize one of the young soldiers, and take whatever you can get from him.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him. ²² Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I ever look your brother Joab in the face?” ^(L)

²³ But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the butt of his spear. The spear went through his body, and he fell and died right there. As they all came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, they stopped,^{(M) 24} but Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah, which is opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵ The Benjaminites rallied to Abner; they formed a unit and took their stand on top of a hill.