2Samuel:2
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And it came to pass after this ,
that David enquired of the LORD ,
saying ,
Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah ?
And the LORD said unto him ,
Go up .
And David said ,
Whither shall I go up ?
And he said ,
Unto Hebron .
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So David went up thither ,
and his two wives also ,
Ahinoam the Jezreelitess ,
and Abigail Nabal '
s wife the Carmelite .
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And his men that were with him did David bring up ,
every man with his household :
and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron .
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And the men of Judah came ,
and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah .
And they told David ,
saying ,
That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul .
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And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead ,
and said unto them ,
Blessed be ye of the LORD ,
that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord ,
even unto Saul ,
and have buried him .
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And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you :
and I also will requite you this kindness ,
because ye have done this thing .
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Therefore now let your hands be strengthened ,
and be ye valiant :
for your master Saul is dead ,
and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them .
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But Abner the son of Ner ,
captain of Saul '
s host ,
took Ishbosheth the son of Saul ,
and brought him over to Mahanaim ;
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And made him king over Gilead ,
and over the Ashurites ,
and over Jezreel ,
and over Ephraim ,
and over Benjamin ,
and over all Israel .
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Ishbosheth Saul '
s son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel ,
and reigned two years .
But the house of Judah followed David .
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And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months .
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And Abner the son of Ner ,
and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul ,
went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon .
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And Joab the son of Zeruiah ,
and the servants of David ,
went out ,
and met together by the pool of Gibeon :
and they sat down ,
the one on the one side of the pool ,
and the other on the other side of the pool .
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And Abner said to Joab ,
Let the young men now arise ,
and play before us .
And Joab said ,
Let them arise .
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Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin ,
which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul ,
and twelve of the servants of David .
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And they caught every one his fellow by the head ,
and thrust his sword in his fellow '
s side ;
so they fell down together :
wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim ,
which is in Gibeon .
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And there was a very sore battle that day ;
and Abner was beaten ,
and the men of Israel ,
before the servants of David .
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And there were three sons of Zeruiah there ,
Joab ,
and Abishai ,
and Asahel :
and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe .
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And Asahel pursued after Abner ;
and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner .
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Then Abner looked behind him ,
and said ,
Art thou Asahel ?
And he answered ,
I am .
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And Abner said to him ,
Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left ,
and lay thee hold on one of the young men ,
and take thee his armour .
But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him .
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And Abner said again to Asahel ,
Turn thee aside from following me :
wherefore should I smite thee to the ground ?
how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother ?
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Howbeit he refused to turn aside :
wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib ,
that the spear came out behind him ;
and he fell down there ,
and died in the same place :
and it came to pass ,
that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still .
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Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner :
and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah ,
that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon .
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And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner ,
and became one troop ,
and stood on the top of an hill .
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Then Abner called to Joab ,
and said ,
Shall the sword devour for ever ?
knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end ?
how long shall it be then ,
ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren ?
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And Joab said ,
As God liveth ,
unless thou hadst spoken ,
surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother .
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So Joab blew a trumpet ,
and all the people stood still ,
and pursued after Israel no more ,
neither fought they any more .
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And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain ,
and passed over Jordan ,
and went through all Bithron ,
and they came to Mahanaim .
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And Joab returned from following Abner :
and when he had gathered all the people together ,
there lacked of David '
s servants nineteen men and Asahel .
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But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin ,
and of Abner '
s men ,
so that three hundred and threescore men died .
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And they took up Asahel ,
and buried him in the sepulchre of his father ,
which was in Bethlehem .
And Joab and his men went all night ,
and they came to Hebron at break of day .