After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed at Ziklag two days.

On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head came from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage.

David asked him, “Where have you come from?”

He replied to him, “I’ve escaped from the Israelite camp.”

David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear. At that very moment the chariots and the cavalry were closing in on him.

When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, so I answered: I’m at your service.

So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn’t survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”

David questioned him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your own head because your own mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

Do not tell it in Gath,
don’t announce it in the marketplaces of Ashkelon,
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
and the daughters of the uncircumcised will gloat.

Mountains of Gilboa,
let no dew or rain be on you,
or fields of offerings,
for there the shield of the mighty was defiled—
the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother.
You were such a friend to me.
Your love for me was more wonderful
than the love of women.

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

The Lord answered him, “Go.”

Then David asked, “Where should I go?”

“To Hebron,” the Lord replied.

So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

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.

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.

Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and moved him to Mahanaim.

Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was 40 years old when he began his reign over Israel; he ruled for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.

Abner son of Ner and soldiers of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

So Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s soldiers marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. The two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

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.

The battle that day was extremely fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s soldiers.

He chased Abner and did not turn to the right or the left in his pursuit of him.

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.

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?”

But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the end of his spear. The spear went through his body, and he fell and died right there. When all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, they stopped,

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.

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

Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

“As God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops wouldn’t have stopped pursuing their brothers until morning.”

Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight.

When Joab had turned back from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, 19 of David’s soldiers were missing,

Afterward, they carried Asahel to his father’s tomb in Bethlehem and buried him. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at dawn.

Sons were born to David in Hebron:

his firstborn was Amnon,
by Ahinoam the Jezreelite;

the sixth was Ithream,
by David’s wife Eglah.

These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner was very angry about Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I a dog’s head who belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I’ve been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends and haven’t handed you over to David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!

May God punish Abner and do so severely if I don’t do for David what the Lord swore to him:

to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beer-sheba.”

Abner sent messengers as his representatives to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make your covenant with me, and you can be certain I am on your side to hand all Israel over to you.”

David replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. However, there’s one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal here when you come to see me.”

Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal. I was engaged to her for the price of 100 Philistine foreskins.”

So Ish-bosheth sent someone to take her away from her husband, Paltiel son of Laish.

Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he went back.

Abner conferred with the elders of Israel: “In the past you wanted David to be king over you.

Abner also informed the Benjaminites and went to Hebron to inform David about all that was agreed on by Israel and the whole house of Benjamin.

When Abner and 20 men came to David at Hebron, David held a banquet for him and his men.

Abner said to David, “Let me now go and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you, and you will rule over all you desire.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.

When Joab and all his army arrived, Joab was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, the king dismissed him, and he went in peace.”

Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look here, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he’s getting away.

You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to find out about your activities and everything you’re doing.”

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside to the middle of the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died in revenge for the death of Asahel, Joab’s brother.

Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

and the king sang a lament for Abner:

Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Your hands were not bound,
your feet not placed in bronze shackles.
You fell like one who falls victim to criminals.

And all the people wept over him even more.

Then they came to urge David to eat bread while it was still day, but David took an oath: “May God punish me and do so severely if I taste bread or anything else before sunset!”

On that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the killing of Abner son of Ner.

Then the king said to his soldiers, “You must know that a great leader has fallen in Israel today.

As for me, even though I am the anointed king, I have little power today. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties: one named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the Benjaminites. Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin,

and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and still live there as foreigners to this very day.

Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. The one who had nursed him picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at Ish-bosheth’s house during the heat of the day while the king was taking his midday nap.

They entered the interior of the house as if to get wheat and stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.

They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here’s the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who intended to take your life. Today the Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was my reward to him for his news!

So David gave orders to the young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.

Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back. The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over Israel.’”

So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you”; thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

He said that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind who are despised by David.” For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the house.”

King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

These are the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.

Then David inquired of the Lord: “Should I go to war against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord replied to David, “Go, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.”

So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, “Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.” Therefore, he named that place the Lord Bursts Out.

So David inquired of the Lord, and He answered, “Do not make a frontal assault. Circle around behind them and attack them opposite the balsam trees.

When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord will have marched out ahead of you to attack the camp of the Philistines.”

So David did exactly as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.

He and all his troops set out to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah. The ark is called by the Name, the name of Yahweh of Hosts who dwells between the cherubim.

When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled.

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God.

David feared the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?”

So he was not willing to move the ark of the Lord to the city of David; instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

It was reported to King David: “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.

Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women. Then all the people left, each to his own home.

When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

David replied to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the Lord,

And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

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

So Nathan told the king, “Go and do all that is on your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:

“Go to My servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build a house for Me to live in?

In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked anyone among the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel: Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’

“Now this is what you are to say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel.

ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.

“‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord Himself will make a house for you.

I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others.

Nathan spoke all these words and this entire vision to David.

What You have done so far was a little thing to You, Lord God, for You have also spoken about Your servant’s house in the distant future. And this is a revelation for mankind, Lord God.