David Anointed King of Judah

2 After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” The Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” He said, “To Hebron.”^{(A) 2} So David went up there, along with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.^{(B) 3} David brought up the men who were with him, every one with his household, and they settled in the towns of Hebron.^{(C) 4} Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

When they told David, “It was the people of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,”^{(D) 5} David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him!^{(E) 6} Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I, too, will reward you because you have done this thing. ⁷ Therefore let your hands be strong and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ishbaal King of Israel

⁸ But Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbaal^[a] son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. ⁹ He made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel.^{(F) 10} Ishbaal,^[b] Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹ The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.^(G)

The Battle of Gibeon

¹² Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ishbaal^[c] son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.^{(H) 13} Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat on one side of the pool, while the other sat on the other side of the pool.^{(I) 14} Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men come forward and have a contest before us.” Joab said, “Let them come forward.” ¹⁵ So they came forward and were counted as they passed by, twelve for Benjamin and Ishbaal^[d] son of Saul and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶ Each 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 Helkath-hazzurim,^[e] which is at Gibeon. ¹⁷ The battle was very fierce that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten by the servants of David.^(J)

¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle.^{(K) 19} Asahel pursued Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he followed him. ²⁰ Then Abner looked back and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” He answered, “Yes, it is.” ²¹ Abner said to him, “Turn to your right or to your left, and seize one of the young men, and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn away from following him. ²² Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn away from following me; why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I show my face to your brother Joab?”^{(L) 23} But he refused to turn away. So Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. He fell there and died where he lay. And all those who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died stood still.^(M)

²⁴ But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. As the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.^{(N) 25} The Benjaminites rallied around Abner and formed a single band; they took their stand on the top of a hill. ²⁶ Then Abner called to Joab, “Is the sword to keep devouring forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you order your people to turn from the pursuit of their kinsmen?” ²⁷ Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, the people would have continued to pursue their kinsmen, not stopping until morning.”^{(O) 28} Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the people stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or engaged in battle any further.

²⁹ Abner and his men traveled all that night through the Arabah; they crossed the Jordan, and, marching the whole forenoon,^[f] they came to Mahanaim.^{(P) 30} Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner, and when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. ³¹ But the servants of David had killed of Benjamin three hundred sixty of Abner’s men. ³² They took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.

Abner Defects to David

3 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.

On Divisions in the Corinthian Church

3 And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people but rather as fleshly, as infants in Christ.^{(A) 2} I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,^{(B) 3} for you are still fleshly. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling^[a] among you, are you not fleshly and behaving according to human inclinations?^{(C) 4} For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not all too human?^(D)

⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will receive wages according to their own labor.^{(E) 9} For we are God’s coworkers, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.^(F)

¹⁰ According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Let each builder choose with care how to build on it.^{(G) 11} For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.^{(H) 12} Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ¹³ the work of each builder will become visible, for the day^[b] will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done.^{(I) 14} If the work that someone has built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a wage. ¹⁵ If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?^{[c](J) 17} If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

¹⁸ Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.^{(K) 19} For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,

²⁰ and again,

²¹ So let no one boast about people.^[d] For all things are yours,^{(M) 22} whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³ and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.^(N)

¹⁷ Abner sent word to the elders of Israel, saying, “For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you. ¹⁸ Now then bring it about, for the Lord has promised David: Through my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from all their enemies.”^{(A) 19} Abner also spoke directly to the Benjaminites; then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin were ready to do.^(B)

²⁰ When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ Abner said to David, “Let me go and rally all Israel to my lord the king, in order that they may make a covenant with you and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went away in peace.^(C)

Abner Is Killed by Joab

²² Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for David^[a] had dismissed him, and he had gone away in peace.^{(D) 23} When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told to Joab, “Abner son of Ner came to the king, and he has dismissed him, and he has gone away in peace.” ²⁴ Then Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner came to you; why did you dismiss him, so that he got away? ²⁵ You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to learn your comings and goings and to learn all that you are doing.”^(E)

²⁶ When Joab came out from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah, but David did not know about it. ²⁷ When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gateway to speak with him privately, and there he stabbed him in the stomach. So he died on account of the blood of Asahel, Joab’s^[b] brother.^{(F) 28} Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹ May the bloodguilt fall on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge, or who has a defiling skin disease, or who holds a spindle, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks food!”^{(G) 30} So Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.^(H)

³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner.” And King David followed the bier.^{(I) 32} They buried Abner at Hebron. The king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. ³³ The king lamented for Abner, saying,

And all the people wept over him again. ³⁵ Then all the people came to persuade David to eat something while it was still day, but David swore, saying, “So may God do to me and more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down!”^{(K) 36} All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, just as everything the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷ So all the people and all Israel understood that day that the king had no part in the killing of Abner son of Ner. ³⁸ And the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹ Today I am powerless, even though anointed king; these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too violent for me. The Lord pay back the one who does wickedly in accordance with his wickedness!”^(L)

A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus

⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.^{(A) 52} And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his arrival,^{(B) 53} but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”^{[a](C) 55} But he turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then^[b] they went on to another village.

Would-Be Followers of Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”^{(D) 60} And Jesus^[c] said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶² And Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”