And he spake to me, (and said,) Stand thou upon me, and slay me (and kill me); for anguishes hold me, and yet all my life is in me.

Forsooth David took and rent his clothes, and (likewise) [all] the men that were with him;

and made him king on Gilead, and on Ashurites, and on Jezreel, and on Ephraim, and on Benjamin, and on all Israel.

And Asahel despised to hear, and would not bow away. Therefore Abner smote him with the spear turned away, that is, turned against him, in the share-bone, that is, behind the maw, in the fifth rib, under which be the members of life, and pierced [him] through, and he was dead in the same place; and all men that passed by the place, in which place Asahel felled down, and was dead, stood still. (And Asahel despised to hear him, and would not turn away. And so Abner struck him with the spear turned against him, in the belly, at the fifth rib, under which be the members of life, and pierced him through, and he died there; and all those who came to the place, where Asahel fell down, and died, stopped and stood there, and gawked.)

And Joab sounded with a clarion, and all the host stood still; and they pursued no further Israel, neither began battle. (And then Joab sounded with a trumpet, and all the army stood in place; and they no longer pursued the men of Israel, and the fighting ceased.)

And Abner and his men went (from) thence by the field places of Moab in all that night, and they passed [over] Jordan; and when all Bithron was compassed, they came to the castles. (And Abner and his men went from there through the fields of Moab all that night, and then they crossed over the Jordan River; and when all Bithron had been traversed, they came to Mahanaim.)

And when Abner was left, Joab turned again, and gathered together all his people; and ten men and nine, besides Asahel, failed of the servants of David. (And when Joab left off pursuing Abner, he returned, and gathered together all his people; and he found that nineteen of David’s men, besides Asahel, were missing.)

And they took Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father in Bethlehem. And Joab, and the men that were with him, went in all that night, and in that morrowtide they came into Hebron (and in the morning they came to Hebron).

Therefore Abner sent messengers to David, and they said for him, Whose is the land? and that the messengers should (also) speak thus, Make thou friendships with me, and mine hand shall be with thee, and I shall bring (over) all Israel to thee.

and her husband followed her, and wept till to Bahurim. And Abner said to him, Go thou, and turn again; and he turned again. (and her husband followed her, and wept all the way to Bahurim. But Abner said to him, Go thou back home! and so he went home.)

Now therefore do ye; for the Lord spake to David, and said, In the hand of my servant David I shall save my people Israel from the hand of Philistines, and of all his enemies. (And so now do ye it; for the Lord spoke to David, and said, By my servant David I shall save my people Israel from the hands of the Philistines, and from all their enemies.)

And also Abner spake to Benjamin; and he went, that he should speak to David, in Hebron, (of) all things that pleased Israel and all Benjamin. (And Abner also spoke to the Benjaminites; and then he went to speak to David in Hebron, about all that the Israelites and the Benjaminites had agreed to do.)

And Abner said to David, I shall rise up, that I gather all Israel to thee, my lord the king, and that I make (a) bond of peace with thee, and that thou reign on all, as thy soul desireth. Therefore when David had led forth Abner, and he had gone in peace, (And Abner said to David, I shall rise up, and gather all Israel to thee, my lord the king, and they shall make a covenant with thee, and thou shalt reign upon all of them, as thy soul desireth. And after David had let Abner go away, with a guarantee of surety, or of safety,)

Knowest thou not (that) Abner, the son of Ner, for hereto he came to thee, that he should deceive thee, and that he should know thy going out and thine entering, and should know all things which thou doest? (Thou must know that Abner, the son of Ner, came to thee so that he could deceive thee, and learn thy going out and thy coming in, and so know all the things that thou doest.)

and come it on the head of Joab, and upon all the house of his father; and fail there not from the house of Joab a man suffering flowing of seed, and a leprous man, (and a man) holding a spindle, and a man falling by sword, and (a man) having need to bread. (yea, let it come upon Joab’s head, and upon all his father’s family; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab a man suffering the flowing out of his seed, or a leprous man, or a man holding a spindle, or a man falling by the sword, or a man having need of bread.)

And David said to Joab, and to all the people that was with him, Rend ye your clothes, and be ye gird with sackcloths, and bewail ye before the hearses, either dirge, of Abner. Forsooth king David followed the bier. (And David said to Joab, and to all the people who were with him, Tear ye your clothes, and be ye gird with sackcloths, and bewail ye the dirge for Abner. And King David himself followed the bier.)

And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David raised (up) his voice, and wept on the burial of Abner; and certainly all the people wept.

Thine hands were not bound, and thy feet were not grieved with stocks, but thou hast fallen down, as men be wont to fall before the sons of wickedness. And all the people doubled together, and wept on him. (Thy hands were not bound, and thy feet were not put in the stocks, but thou hast fallen, like men be wont to fall before the sons of wickedness. And all the people wept again for him.)

And when all the multitude came to take meat with David, while the day was yet clear, David swore, and said, God do to me these things, and add these things too, if I shall taste bread, either any other thing, before the going down of the sun.

And all the people heard this; and all things which the king did in the sight of all the people pleased them;

and all the common people and all Israel knew in that day, that it was not done of the king (that it was not done by the king), that Abner, the son of Ner, was slain.

And Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, heard that Abner had fallen down in Hebron; and his hands were discomforted, and all Israel was troubled. (And Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, heard that Abner had been killed in Hebron; and his hands were enfeebled, that is, he was afraid, and all Israel was troubled.)

Soothly when they had entered into the house, he slept on his bed in a (bed-)closet; and they smited and killed him; and when they had taken [off] his head, they went by the way of desert in all that night. (Yea, when they entered into the house, he slept on his bed in the bed-chamber; and they struck, or stabbed, him and killed him; and when they had cut off his head, they left, and went by the way of the wilderness all that night.)

And David answered to Rechab, and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, and said to them, The Lord liveth, that hath delivered my life from all anguish (As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my life from all anguish);

And all the lineages of Israel came to David, in Hebron, and said, Lo! we be thy bone and thy flesh. (And all the tribes of Israel came to David, in Hebron, and said, Lo! we be thy flesh and blood.)