³¹ Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth^(A) and walk in mourning^(B) in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. ³² They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept^(C) aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.

³³ The king sang this lament^(D) for Abner:

And all the people wept over him again.

³⁵ Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(F) if I taste bread^(G) or anything else before the sun sets!”

³⁶ All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. ³⁷ So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part^(H) in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

³⁸ Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen^(I) in Israel this day? ³⁹ And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah^(J) are too strong^(K) for me.^(L) May the Lord repay^(M) the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”

Ish-Bosheth Murdered

4 When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner^(N) had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. ² Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rekab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth^(O) is considered part of Benjamin, ³ because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim^(P) and have resided there as foreigners to this day.

⁴ (Jonathan^(Q) son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news^(R) about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled.^(S) His name was Mephibosheth.)^(T)

⁵ Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth,^(U) and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest.^{(V) 6} They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed^(W) him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

⁷ They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah.^{(X) 8} They brought the head^(Y) of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul,^(Z) your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged^(AA) my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

⁹ David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered^(AB) me out of every trouble, ¹⁰ when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag.^(AC) That was the reward I gave him for his news! ¹¹ How much more—when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his blood^(AD) from your hand and rid the earth of you!”

¹² So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them.^(AE) They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

David Becomes King Over Israel^(AF)

5 All the tribes of Israel^(AG) came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood.^{(AH) 2} In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.^(AI) And the Lord said^(AJ) to you, ‘You will shepherd^(AK) my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.^(AL)’”

³ When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant^(AM) with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed^(AN) David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old^(AO) when he became king, and he reigned^(AP) forty^(AQ) years. ⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months,^(AR) and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

David Conquers Jerusalem^(AS)(AT)

⁶ The king and his men marched to Jerusalem^(AU) to attack the Jebusites,^(AV) who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion^(AW)—which is the City of David.^(AX)

⁸ On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft^(AY) to reach those ‘lame and blind’^(AZ) who are David’s enemies.^[a]” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

⁹ David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces^[b](BA) inward. ¹⁰ And he became more and more powerful,^(BB) because the Lord God Almighty^(BC) was with him.^(BD)

David Becomes King Over Israel^(A)

11 All Israel^(B) came together to David at Hebron^(C) and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. ² In the past, even while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.^(D) And the Lord your God said to you, ‘You will shepherd^(E) my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.^(F)’”

³ When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed^(G) David king over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel.

David Conquers Jerusalem^(H)

⁴ David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). The Jebusites^(I) who lived there ⁵ said to David, “You will not get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

⁶ David had said, “Whoever leads the attack on the Jebusites will become commander in chief.” Joab^(J) son of Zeruiah went up first, and so he received the command.

⁷ David then took up residence in the fortress, and so it was called the City of David. ⁸ He built up the city around it, from the terraces^[a](K) to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city. ⁹ And David became more and more powerful,^(L) because the Lord Almighty was with him.