David, King of Judah

2 Some time later, David inquired of the Lord:^(A) “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?”

The Lord answered him, “Go.”

Then David asked, “Where should I go?”

“To Hebron,”^(B) the Lord replied.

² So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.^{(C) 3} In addition, David brought the men who were with him, each one with his household, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.^{(D) 4} Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.^(E) They told David: “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”^(F)

⁵ David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “The Lord bless you, because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him. ⁶ Now, may the Lord show kindness and faithfulness to you, and I will also show the same goodness to you because you have done this deed. ⁷ Therefore, be strong and courageous, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

⁸ Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army,^(G) took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth^[a][b] and moved him to Mahanaim. ⁹ He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin—over all Israel. ¹⁰ Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was 40 years old when he began his reign over Israel; he ruled for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. ¹¹ The length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.^(H)

¹² Abner son of Ner and soldiers of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³ So Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s soldiers marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon.^(I) The two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

¹⁴ Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young men get up and compete in front of us.”

“Let them get up,” Joab replied.

¹⁵ So they got up and were counted off—12 for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and 12 from David’s soldiers. ¹⁶ Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side so that they all died together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is named Field of Blades.^[c]

¹⁷ The battle that day was extremely fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s soldiers. ¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel.^(J) Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the wild gazelles.^{(K) 19} He chased Abner and did not turn to the right or the left in his pursuit of him. ²⁰ Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

“Yes it is,” Asahel replied.

²¹ Abner said to him, “Turn to your right or left, seize one of the young soldiers, and take whatever you can get from him.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him. ²² Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I ever look your brother Joab in the face?”^(L)

²³ But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the end of his spear. The spear went through his body, and he fell and died right there. When all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, they stopped, ²⁴ but Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah, which is opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵ The Benjaminites rallied to Abner; they formed a single unit and took their stand on top of a hill. ²⁶ Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

²⁷ “As God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops wouldn’t have stopped pursuing their brothers until morning.”^{(M) 28} Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight. ²⁹ So Abner and his men marched through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning,^[d] and arrived at Mahanaim.^(N)

³⁰ When Joab had turned back from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, 19 of David’s soldiers were missing, ³¹ but they had killed 360 of the Benjaminites and Abner’s men. ³² Afterward, they carried Asahel to his father’s tomb in Bethlehem and buried him. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at dawn.

Civil War

3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David was long and drawn out, with David growing stronger and the house of Saul becoming weaker.

² Sons were born to David in Hebron:

These were born to David in Hebron.^(R)

David’s Descendants

Exploits of David’s Warriors

⁸ These are the names of David’s warriors:^(A)

Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the officers.^[a] He wielded his spear^[b] against 800 men that he killed at one time.

⁹ After him, Eleazar son of Dodo son of an Ahohite was among the three warriors with David when they defied the Philistines. The men of Israel retreated in the place they had gathered for battle, ¹⁰ but Eleazar stood his ground and attacked the Philistines until his hand was tired and stuck to his sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him, but only to plunder the dead.

¹¹ After him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had assembled in formation where there was a field full of lentils. The troops fled from the Philistines, ¹² but Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³ Three of the 30 leading warriors went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam,^(B) while a company of Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ At that time David was in the stronghold,^(C) and a Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David was extremely thirsty^[c] and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁶ So three of the warriors broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁷ David said, “Lord, I would never do such a thing! Is this not the blood of men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.

Exploits of David’s Warriors

¹⁰ The following were the chiefs of David’s warriors who, together with all Israel, strongly supported him in his reign to make him king according to the Lord’s word about Israel.^{(A) 11} This^(B) is the list of David’s warriors:

Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief^(C) of the Thirty;^[a] he wielded his spear against 300 and killed them at one time.

¹² After him, Eleazar son of Dodo^(D) the Ahohite was one of the three warriors. ¹³ He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines had gathered there for battle. There was a portion of a field full of barley, where the troops had fled from the Philistines.^{(E) 14} But Eleazar and David^[b] took their stand in the middle of the field and defended it. They killed the Philistines, and the Lord gave them a great victory.

¹⁵ Three of the 30 chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam,^(F) while the Philistine army was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.^{(G) 16} At that time David was in the stronghold,^(H) and a Philistine garrison^(I) was at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David was extremely thirsty^[c] and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸ So the Three broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁹ David said, “I would never do such a thing in the presence of God! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” For they brought it at the risk of their lives. So he would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.

¹⁸ Abishai, Joab’s brother and son of Zeruiah,^(A) was leader of the Three.^[a] He raised his spear against 300 men and killed them, gaining a reputation among the Three. ¹⁹ Was he not more honored than the Three? He became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.^(B)

²⁰ Benaiah son of Jehoiada^(C) was the son of a brave man from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons^[b] of Ariel^[c] of Moab, and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²¹ He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man. Even though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and then killed him with his own spear. ²² These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors. ²³ He was the most honored of the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁴ Among the Thirty were:

There were 37 in all.

²⁰ Abishai,^(A) Joab’s brother, was the leader of the Three.^[a] He raised his spear against 300 men and killed them, gaining a reputation among the Three. ²¹ He was more honored than the Three and became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.

²² Benaiah son of Jehoiada^(B) was the son of a brave man^[b] from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab,^[c] and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²³ He also killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall.^[d] Even though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand like a weaver’s beam,^(C) Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and then killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors. ²⁵ He was the most honored of the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁶ The fighting men^(D) were: