Historical

Ish-Bosheth Murdered

4 When the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed, and all of Israel was disheartened. ² Now the son of Saul had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rekab, both sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, from among the sons of Benjamin. Now Beeroth is also regarded as part of Benjamin, ³ because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there until this day.

⁴ Now Jonathan the son of Saul had a son with crippled feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

⁵ The sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rekab and Baanah, went out and came to the house of Ish-Bosheth in the heat of the day, as he was resting in his bed at midday. ⁶ They entered the house as if to get wheat and stabbed him in the abdomen. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah fled to safety.

⁷ When they entered the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; they struck him, killed him, and beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night. ⁸ They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David in Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. This day, the Lord has given retribution against Saul and his descendent to my lord the king.”

⁹ David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord, who has delivered my life from every distress, lives, ¹⁰ when one reported to me that Saul was dead, although he was a bearer of good news in his own eyes, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was my reward for his message. ¹¹ How much more so, when guilty men have slain an innocent man in his own house on his own bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand and wipe you from the earth?”

¹² David then gave orders to the young men. They killed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hung them at the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

David Anointed King Over Israel^(A)

5 All of the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your bone and flesh. ² Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one leading Israel out and in. Also, the Lord said to you: You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.”

³ So all of the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron. They anointed David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. ⁵ He reigned over Judah from Hebron for seven years and six months, and he reigned over all of Israel and Judah from Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

David Conquers Jerusalem^(B)

⁶ The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, who were living in the land. They said to David, “You will not enter here; even the blind and the lame will turn you away”—thinking, “David cannot enter here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David overthrew the stronghold of Zion, which is now the City of David.

⁸ David said on that day, “Whoever defeats the Jebusites, let him go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind, who are despised by David.” Therefore, it is said, “The blind and lame shall not come into the house.”

⁹ So David occupied the stronghold, and he called it the City of David. He built on all sides from the terraces inward. ¹⁰ David went on and became great, because the Lord, the God of Hosts, was with him.

¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar wood, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a house for David. ¹² Then David understood that the Lord had appointed him king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

¹³ David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, after having come from Hebron, and they bore him more sons and daughters. ¹⁴ These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines^(C)

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all of the Philistines went up to search for David, but David heard about this and went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and were spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ So David asked the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them into my hand?”

The Lord said to David, “Go up, because I will certainly give them into your hand.”

²⁰ So David came to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. He said, “The Lord has breached my enemies before me like bursting tides.” Therefore, he named that place Baal Perazim. ²¹ The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.

²² Once again, the Philistines went up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ When David inquired of the Lord, He said, “You shall not go up. Circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, pay attention, because at that point the Lord is going before you to defeat the army of the Philistines.” ²⁵ So David did just as the Lord commanded, and he defeated the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(D)

6 Again David gathered all of the chosen men in Israel, thirty thousand. ² David and all of the people who were with him arose and went from Baalah of Judah to bring up the ark of God, so named for the name of the Lord of Hosts who sits enthroned among the cherubim that are upon it. ³ They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio the sons of Abinadab were driving the new cart. ⁴ They brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on the hill, and Ahio was walking in front of the ark. ⁵ Meanwhile, David and the entire house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all sorts of instruments made of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ The Lord became angry against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence. He died there beside the ark of God.

⁸ David became angry because of the outburst of the Lord against Uzzah; that place is called Perez Uzzah to this day.

⁹ David feared the Lord that day, and he thought, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ So David did not allow the ark of the Lord to be brought to him in the City of David. Instead, David redirected it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. ¹¹ The ark of the Lord remained at the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household.

¹² When it was reported to King David, “The Lord has blessed Obed-Edom and everything that belongs to him, for the sake of the ark of God,” David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³ When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, David would sacrifice an ox and a fattened steer. ¹⁴ David danced before the Lord with all of his might, and he wore a linen ephod. ¹⁵ So David and the whole house of Israel escorted the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the horn.

¹⁶ When the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down from the window, and upon seeing King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she thought contemptuously of him in her mind.

¹⁷ They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people before the Lord of Hosts. ¹⁹ He distributed to all of the people, the entire multitude of Israel, both men and women, one bread cake, one date cake, and one raisin cake to each one. Then all of the people left, each to his house.

²⁰ David returned to bless his household, but Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet him. She said, “How the king of Israel has dignified himself today, exposing himself this day in the sight of his servant’s slave girls like one of the rabble might shamelessly expose himself.”

²¹ Then David responded to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me over your father and over everyone in his household, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. I was celebrating before the Lord. ²² I will humble myself even more than this and be abased in my own eyes. But by the maidservants, of whom you have spoken, I will be held in honor.”

²³ Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.