The House of David Strengthened

3 Now ^(A)there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David became steadily stronger, while the house of Saul became steadily weaker.

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

Abner Joins David

⁶ Now it happened that while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, ^(G)Abner was ^[b]strengthening himself in the house of Saul. ⁷ And Saul had a concubine whose name was ^(H)Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and ^[c]Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” ⁸ Then Abner became very angry over Ish-bosheth’s ^[d]question and said, “^(I)Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not let you fall into the hands of David; yet today you call me to account for wrongdoing with ^[e]that woman? ^9 (J)May God do so to ^[f]me, and more so, if ^(K)as the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him: ^10 (L)to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, ^(M)from Dan even to Beersheba!” ¹¹ And Ish-bosheth could no longer say a word in response to Abner, because he was afraid of him.

¹² Then Abner sent messengers to David at his place, saying, “Whose is the land? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you.” ¹³ And he said, “Good! I will make a covenant with you, only I require one thing of you, ^[g]namely, that ^(N)you shall not see my face unless you ^(O)first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see ^[h]me.” ¹⁴ So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed ^(P)for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵ Ish-bosheth sent men and ^[i]had her taken from her husband, from ^[j]Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶ And her husband went with her, weeping as he went, ^[k]following her as far as ^(Q)Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” So he returned.