^36 (A)Jesus answered, ^(B)“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

²⁰ Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all ^(A)Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah ^(B)only.

²¹ And when ^(C)Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of ^(D)Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

²⁴ And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ^25 (A)For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ^(B)‘Long^[a] live King Adonijah!’

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 ^(A)Gibeon. ¹³ And ^(B)Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by ^(C)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 ^[a]the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. ¹⁷ So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

Ishbosheth Made King of Israel

⁸ But ^(A)Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took ^[a]Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to ^(B)Mahanaim; ⁹ and he made him king over ^(C)Gilead, over the ^(D)Ashurites, over ^(E)Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king ^(A)before the Lord in Gilgal. ^(B)There they made sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him ^(A)whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?”

So all the people shouted and said, ^(B)“Long^[a] live the king!”

Principles Governing Kings

¹⁴ “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ^(A)‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you shall surely set a king over you ^(B)whom the Lord your God chooses; one ^(C)from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.