came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace.' 24Then Joab came to the king, and said: 'What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? 25Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest.' 26And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from Bor-sirah; but David knew it not.
27And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there in the groin, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. 28And afterward when David heard it, he said: 'I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner; 29let it fall upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth by the sword, or that lacketh bread.' 30So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
31And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him: 'Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and wail before Abner.' And king David followed the bier. 32And they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. 33And the king lamented for Abner, and said:
Should Abner die as a churl dieth34Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters;As a man falleth before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall.
And all the people wept again over him. 35And all the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying: 'God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or aught else, till the sun be down.' 36And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them; whatsoever the king did, pleased all the people. 37So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner. 38And the king said unto his servants: 'Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? 39And I am this day weak, and just anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me; the Lord reward the evil-doer according to his wickedness.'
4And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were affrighted. 2And Saul's son had two men that were captains of bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin; for Beeroth also is reckoned to Benjamin; 3and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been sojourners there until this day.
4Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled; and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
5And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, as he took his rest at noon. 6And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him in the groin; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7Now when they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bed-chamber, they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night. 8And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king: 'Behold the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, who sought thy life; and the Lord hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.' 9And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them: 'As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, 10when one told me, saying: Behold, Saul is dead, and he was in his own eyes as though he brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, instead of giving a reward for his tidings. 11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?' 12And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.
5Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spoke, saying: 'Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. 2In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou that didst lead out and bring in Israel; and the Lord said to thee: Thou shalt feed My people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over Israel.' 3So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel.
4David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.
6And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke unto David, saying: 'Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither'; thinking: 'David cannot come in hither.' 7Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. 8And David said on that day: 'Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, and getteth up to the gutter, and [taketh away] the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul—.' Wherefore they say: 'There are the blind and the lame; he cannot come into the house.' 9And David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. 10And David waxed greater and greater; for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.
11And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar-trees, and carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house. 12And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel's sake.
13And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron; and there were yet sons and daughters born to David. 14And these are the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon; 15and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia; 16and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet.
17And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. 18Now the Philistines had come and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 19And David inquired of the Lord, saying: 'Shall I go up against the Philistines? wilt Thou deliver them into my hand?' And the Lord said unto David: 'Go up; for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into thy hand.' 20And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there; and he said: 'The Lord hath broken mine enemies before me, like the breach of waters.' Therefore the name of that place was called 2Baal-perazim. 21And they left their images there, and David and his men took them away.
22And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 23And when David inquired of the Lord, He said: 'Thou shalt not go up; make a circuit behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees. 24And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then is the Lord gone out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.' 25And David did so, as the Lord commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gezer.
6And David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him, from Baale-judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whereupon is called the Name, even the name of the Lord of hosts that sitteth upon the cherubim. 3And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. 4And they brought