The name of Saul's wife [was] Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz, and the name of the commander of his army [was] Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

Now Kish [was] the father of Saul, but Ner, the father of Abner, [was] the son of Abiel.

Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Whose son [is] this young man, Abner?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know."

So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. The head of the Philistine [was] in his hand.

The king sat at his seat {as before}, the seat by the wall, and Jonathan got up, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David's place was empty.

Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul [was] lying down, {as well as} Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul [was] lying in the encampment, and the army [was] encamping around him.)

So David and Abishai came to the army [by] night, and {there was} Saul lying asleep in the encampment with his spear thrust into the ground near his head, and Abner and the army [were] lying all around him.

David called out to the army and to Abner the son of Ner, "Will you not answer, Abner?" And Abner answered and said, "Who [are] you [that] you call to the king?"

So David said to Abner, "[Are] you not a man? And who [is] like you in Israel? Why did you not keep watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy your lord the king.

But Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, had taken Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over [to] Mahanaim.

Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men come up and fight in our presence." And Joab said, "Let them come up."

Then the battle {became increasingly fierce} on that day, and Abner and the men of Israel [were] defeated before the servants of David.

So Asahel pursued Abner, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left from going after Abner.

Abner turned around and said, "[Are] you this Asahel?" And he said, "Yes."

Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right or to your left; seize for yourself one of the young men, and take his belongings for yourself." But Asahel [was] not willing to turn aside from him.

So Abner said to Asahel {once again}, "{For your own sake}, turn aside {from following me}. Why should I strike you down to the ground? How could I {show my face} to Joab your brother?"

But he refused to turn away, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of the spear, and the spear went out of his back. He fell there and he died {on the spot}. {Then} all who came to the place where Asahel fell and died [just] stood there.

So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner {when} the sun went down. And they came to the hill [country] of Ammah, which [is] {before Giah} [on] the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

The descendants of Benjamin rallied after Abner, and they became as one fighting group and stood on the top of a certain hill.

Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Will [the] sword devour forever? Do you not know that [there] will be bitterness in the end? {How long} will you not tell the people to turn {away from pursuing} their brothers?"

Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night, and they crossed over the Jordan. They went all the forenoon and came to Mahanaim.

After Joab returned from [pursuing] Abner, he gathered all the people; nineteen of the servants of David [were] missing [along] with Asahel.

The servants of David had killed some of the Benjaminites among the men of Abner; three hundred and sixty men had died.

As the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was [continuing], Abner was strengthening himself in the house of Saul.

Saul had had a concubine, and her name [was] Rizpah the daughter of Aiah. Then [Ish-Bosheth] said to Abner, "Why {did you have sex with} my father's concubine?"

{Abner became very angry} at the words of Ish-Bosheth, and he said, "[Am] I the head of a dog which [is] for Judah today? Do I not continue to show loyal love with the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends? I have not let you fall into the hands of David, yet you have {accused me of sin with this woman} today.

Thus {may God punish Abner}, {if I do not accomplish what Yahweh has sworn to David};

And [Ish-Bosheth] was no longer able to {answer} Abner {because he feared him}.

Abner sent messengers to David {where he was}, saying, "To whom does the land [belong]? {Make your covenant with me}! Look, my hand [is] with you to bring all of Israel over to you!"

But her husband went with her, {weeping all along} after her as far as Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go [and] return." So he returned.

The word of Abner {came to} the elders of Israel, saying, "{For quite some time} you were seeking David as king over you.

Abner also spoke {privately to Benjamin}. Abner also went {to speak to David} in Hebron, all that [was] good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all the house of Benjamin.

Then Abner came to David in Hebron and with him [were] twenty men. David had prepared a feast for Abner and for the men who [were] with him.

And Abner said to David, "Let me get up and go and gather all of Israel to my lord the king, that they may {make a covenant} with you so you can reign over all which your soul desires." So David dismissed Abner, and he left in peace.

And look, the servants of David and Joab came from the raid, and they brought much plunder with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.

When Joab and all the army that [was] with him came, they told Joab, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he left in peace."

Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came here to you? Why have you dismissed him that he {actually went away}?

You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you. He came to learn about your going out and coming [in] and to know all which you [are] doing."

Then Joab went out from David, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from Bor Hasirah, but David did not know [it].

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate to speak with him in private. Then he struck him in the stomach there and he died, {for he had shed the blood of Asahel his brother}.

When David heard this afterwards, he said: "I and my kingdom [are] innocent {before Yahweh} forever [for] the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

So Joab and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner because he had killed Asahel, their brother, at Gibeon in the battle.

David said to Joab and to all the people who [were] with him, "Tear your clothing and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." Now King David [was] following after the bier.

And they buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.

The king sang a lament for Abner and said, "Should Abner have died the death of a fool?

Then all the people and all of Israel realized on that day that {the king had not desired} to kill Abner the son of Ner.

When the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, {his courage failed} and all of Israel [was] horrified.

Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them, and they cut off their hands and their feet, and they hung [them] at the pool at Hebron, but the head of Ish-Bosheth they took and buried in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

"Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me when he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether, and he murdered them and put the blood of war in [a time of] peace. He put the blood of war on the leather belt that was on his waist and on the sandals which were on his feet.

Yahweh will return his blood on his head, because he fell upon two men, more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with the sword, even though my father did not know it; [namely] Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated--all the dedicated gifts [were] under the hand of Shelomith and his brothers.

For the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo the son of Zechariah. For Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner.