2 Samuel 2:1-16

New King James Version

David Anointed King of Judah

2 It happened after this that David ^(A)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?”

And the Lord said to him, “Go up.”

David said, “Where shall I go up?”

And He said, “To ^(B)Hebron.”

² So David went up there, and his ^(C)two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. ³ And David brought up ^(D)the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

^4 (E)Then the men of Judah came, and there they ^(F)anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, ^(G)“The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.” ⁵ So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, ^(H)“You are blessed of the Lord, for you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him. ⁶ And now may ^(I)the Lord show kindness and truth to you. I also will repay you this kindness, because you have done this thing. ⁷ Now therefore, let your hands be strengthened, and be valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ishbosheth Made King of Israel

⁸ But ^(J)Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took ^[a]Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^(K)Mahanaim; ⁹ and he made him king over ^(L)Gilead, over the ^(M)Ashurites, over ^(N)Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel. ¹⁰ Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹ And ^(O)the ^[b]time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Israel and Judah at War

¹² Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to ^(P)Gibeon. ¹³ And ^(Q)Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by ^(R)the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴ Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.”

And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

¹⁵ So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. ¹⁶ And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called ^[c]the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon.