Joab Kills Abner

3 Now there was a long ^(A)war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

Sons of David

² Sons were born ^(B)to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon ^(C)by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; ³ his second, ^[a]Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third, ^(D)Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king ^(E)of Geshur; ⁴ the fourth, ^(F)Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; ⁵ and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Joins Forces with David

⁶ Now it was so, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner was strengthening his hold on the house of Saul.

⁷ And Saul had a concubine, whose name was ^(G)Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you ^(H)gone in to my father’s concubine?”

⁸ Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and said, “Am I ^(I)a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman? ^9 (J)May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David ^(K)as the Lord has sworn to him— ¹⁰ to transfer the kingdom from the ^[b]house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, ^(L)from Dan to Beersheba.” ¹¹ And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

¹² Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David, saying, “Whose is the land?” saying also, “Make your covenant with me, and indeed my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel to you.”

¹³ And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: ^(M)you shall not see my face unless you first bring ^(N)Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” ¹⁴ So David sent messengers to ^(O)Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself ^(P)for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵ And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from ^[c]Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶ Then her husband went along with her to ^(Q)Bahurim, ^[d]weeping behind her. So Abner said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned.

¹⁷ Now Abner had communicated with the elders of Israel, saying, “In time past you were seeking for David to be king over you. ¹⁸ Now then, do it! ^(R)For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David, ^[e]I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.’ ” ¹⁹ And Abner also spoke in the hearing of ^(S)Benjamin. Then Abner also went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and the whole house of Benjamin.

²⁰ So Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ Then Abner said to David, “I will arise and go, and ^(T)gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may ^(U)reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

Joab Murders Abner

²² At that moment the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much ^[f]spoil with them. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. ²³ When Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace.” ²⁴ Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone? ²⁵ Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know ^(V)your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.”

²⁶ And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. ²⁷ Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab ^(W)took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there ^[g]stabbed him ^(X)in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of ^(Y)Asahel his brother.

²⁸ Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “My kingdom and I are ^[h]guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ^29 (Z)Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the ^[i]house of Joab one ^(AA)who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” ³⁰ So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother ^(AB)Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

David’s Mourning for Abner

³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, ^(AC)“Tear your clothes, ^(AD)gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner.” And King David followed the coffin. ³² So they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. ³³ And the king sang a lament over Abner and said:

Then all the people wept over him again.

³⁵ And when all the people came ^(AF)to persuade David to eat food while it was still day, David took an oath, saying, ^(AG)“God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else ^(AH)till the sun goes down!” ³⁶ Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷ For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of Ner. ³⁸ Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹ And I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, ^(AI)are too harsh for me. ^(AJ)The Lord shall repay the evildoer according to his wickedness.”

Ishbosheth Is Murdered

4 When Saul’s ^[j]son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, ^(AK)he^[k] lost heart, and all Israel was ^(AL)troubled. ² Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of troops. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin. (For ^(AM)Beeroth also was ^[l]part of Benjamin, ³ because the Beerothites fled to ^(AN)Gittaim and have been sojourners there until this day.)

^4 (AO)Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came ^(AP)from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was ^(AQ)Mephibosheth.^[m]

⁵ Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out and came at about the heat of the day to the ^(AR)house of Ishbosheth, who was lying on his bed at noon. ⁶ And they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they ^[n]stabbed him ^(AS)in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. ⁷ For when they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him, beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the plain. ⁸ And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, ^(AT)who sought your life; and the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants.”

⁹ But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, ^(AU)who has redeemed my life from all adversity, ¹⁰ when ^(AV)someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. ¹¹ How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now ^(AW)require his ^[o]blood at your hand and ^[p]remove you from the earth?” ¹² So David ^(AX)commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the ^(AY)tomb of Abner in Hebron.

³¹ In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

³³ Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, ^(A)“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to ^(B)finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes ^(C)the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, ^(D)for they are already white for harvest! ^36 (E)And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that ^(F)both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this the saying is true: ^(G)‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; ^(H)others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

The Savior of the World

³⁹ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him ^(I)because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of His own ^(J)word.

⁴² Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for ^(K)we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed ^[a]the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Welcome at Galilee

⁴³ Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. ⁴⁴ For ^(L)Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, ^(M)having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; ^(N)for they also had gone to the feast.

A Nobleman’s Son Healed

⁴⁶ So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee ^(O)where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain ^[b]nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, ^(P)“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”

⁴⁹ The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. ⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”

⁵² Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.

⁵⁴ This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.