2 Samuel 3:31-4:12

English Standard Version

David Mourns Abner

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

^(D)“Should Abner die ^(E)as a fool dies?
³⁴Your hands were not bound;
your feet were not fettered;
as one falls before the wicked
you have fallen.”

And all the people wept again over him. ³⁵Then all the people came ^(F)to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, ^(G)“God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else ^(H)till the sun goes down!” ³⁶And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner the son of Ner. ³⁸And the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹And I was gentle today, though anointed king. ^(I)These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are more severe than I. ^(J)The Lord repay the evildoer according to his wickedness!”

Ish-bosheth Murdered

4 When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, ^(K)his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. ²Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (^(L)for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin; ³^(M)the Beerothites fled ^(N)to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day).

⁴^(O)Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan ^(P)came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

⁵Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. ⁶And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him ^(Q)in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.^[a] ⁷When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of ^(R)the Arabah all night, ⁸and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, ^(S)who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.” ⁹But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, ^(T)“As the Lord lives, ^(U)who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, ¹⁰^(V)when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, ^(W)I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. ¹¹How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now ^(X)require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” ¹²And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it ^(Y)in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

Footnotes

2 Samuel 4:6 Septuagint And behold, the doorkeeper of the house had been cleaning wheat, but she grew drowsy and slept. So Rechab and Baanah his brother slipped in

Psalm 65:1-8

English Standard Version

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

65 Praise ^(A)is due to you,^[a] O God, in Zion,
    and to you shall ^(B)vows be performed.
²O you who ^(C)hear prayer,
    to you ^(D)shall all flesh come.
³When ^(E)iniquities prevail against me,
    you ^(F)atone for our transgressions.
⁴^(G)Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
    to ^(H)dwell in your courts!
We shall be ^(I)satisfied with the goodness of your house,
    the holiness of your temple!

⁵By ^(J)awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
    O God of our salvation,
the hope of all ^(K)the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas;
⁶the one who by his strength established the mountains,
    being ^(L)girded with might;
⁷who ^(M)stills the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    ^(N)the tumult of the peoples,
⁸so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.