2Samuel:2:8-3
Seeker Overlay ON
*
But Abner the son of Ner ,
commander of Saul '
s army ,
took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim ;
*
and he made him king over Gilead ,
over the Ashurites ,
over Jezreel ,
over Ephraim ,
over Benjamin ,
and over all Israel .
*
Ishbosheth ,
Saul '
s son ,
was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel ,
and he reigned two years .
Only the house of Judah followed David .
*
And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months .
*
Now Abner the son of Ner ,
and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul ,
went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon .
*
And Joab the son of Zeruiah ,
and the servants of David ,
went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon .
So they sat down ,
one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool .
*
Then Abner said to Joab , "
Let the young men now arise and compete before us ."
And Joab said , "
Let them arise ."
*
So they arose and went over by number ,
twelve from Benjamin ,
followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul ,
and twelve from the servants of David .
*
And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent '
s side ;
so they fell down together .
Therefore that place was called the Field of Sharp Swords ,
which is in Gibeon .
*
So there was a very fierce battle that day ,
and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David .
*
Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there :
Joab and Abishai and Asahel .
And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle .
*
So Asahel pursued Abner ,
and in going he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner .
*
Then Abner looked behind him and said , "
Are you Asahel ?"
He answered , "
I am ."
*
And Abner said to him , "
Turn aside to your right hand or to your left ,
and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself ."
But Asahel would not turn aside from following him .
*
So Abner said again to Asahel , "
Turn aside from following me .
Why should I strike you to the ground ?
How then could I face your brother Joab ?"
*
However ,
he refused to turn aside .
Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear ,
so that the spear came out of his back ;
and he fell down there and died on the spot .
So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died ,
stood still .
*
Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner .
And the sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah ,
which is before Giah by the road to the Wilderness of Gibeon .
*
Now the children of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became a unit ,
and took their stand on top of a hill .
*
Then Abner called to Joab and said , "
Shall the sword devour forever ?
Do you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end ?
How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren ?"
*
And Joab said , "
As God lives ,
unless you had spoken ,
surely then by morning all the people would have given up pursuing their brethren ."
*
So Joab blew a trumpet ;
and all the people stood still and did not pursue Israel anymore ,
nor did they fight anymore .
*
Then Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain ,
crossed over the Jordan ,
and went through all Bithron ;
and they came to Mahanaim .
*
So Joab returned from pursuing Abner .
And when he had gathered all the people together ,
there were missing of David '
s servants nineteen men and Asahel .
*
But the servants of David had struck down ,
of Benjamin and Abner '
s men ,
three hundred and sixty men who died .
*
Then they took up Asahel and buried him in his father '
s tomb ,
which was in Bethlehem .
And Joab and his men went all night ,
and they came to Hebron at daybreak .
*
And there happened to be there a rebel ,
whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri ,
a Benjamite .
And he blew a trumpet ,
and said : "
We have no share in David ,
Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse ;
Every man to his tents ,
O Israel !"
*
So every man of Israel deserted David ,
and followed Sheba the son of Bichri .
But the men of Judah ,
from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem ,
remained loyal to their king .
*
Now David came to his house at Jerusalem .
And the king took the ten women ,
his concubines whom he had left to keep the house ,
and put them in seclusion and supported them ,
but did not go in to them .
So they were shut up to the day of their death ,
living in widowhood .
*
And the king said to Amasa , "
Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days ,
and be present here yourself ."
*
So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah .
But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him .
*
And David said to Abishai , "
Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom .
Take your lord '
s servants and pursue him ,
lest he find for himself fortified cities ,
and escape us ."
*
So Joab '
s men ,
with the Cherethites ,
the Pelethites ,
and all the mighty men ,
went out after him .
And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri .
*
When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon ,
Amasa came before them .
Now Joab was dressed in battle armor ;
on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips ;
and as he was going forward ,
it fell out .
*
Then Joab said to Amasa , "
Are you in health ,
my brother ?"
And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him .
*
But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab '
s hand .
And he struck him with it in the stomach ,
and his entrails poured out on the ground ;
and he did not strike him again .
Thus he died .
Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri .
*
Meanwhile one of Joab '
s men stood near Amasa ,
and said , "
Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David--follow Joab !"
*
But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the highway .
And when the man saw that all the people stood still ,
he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him ,
when he saw that everyone who came upon him halted .
*
When he was removed from the highway ,
all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri .
*
And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maachah and all the Berites .
So they were gathered together and also went after Sheba .
*
Then they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maachah ;
and they cast up a siege mound against the city ,
and it stood by the rampart .
And all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down .
*
Then a wise woman cried out from the city , "
Hear ,
hear !
Please say to Joab , "
Come nearby ,
that I may speak with you ."'
*
When he had come near to her ,
the woman said , "
Are you Joab ?"
He answered , "
I am ."
Then she said to him , "
Hear the words of your maidservant ."
And he answered , "
I am listening ."
*
So she spoke ,
saying , "
They used to talk in former times ,
saying , "
They shall surely seek guidance at Abel ,'
and so they would end disputes .
*
I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel .
You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel .
Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD ?"
*
And Joab answered and said , "
Far be it ,
far be it from me ,
that I should swallow up or destroy !
*
That is not so .
But a man from the mountains of Ephraim ,
Sheba the son of Bichri by name ,
has raised his hand against the king ,
against David .
Deliver him only ,
and I will depart from the city ."
So the woman said to Joab , "
Watch ,
his head will be thrown to you over the wall ."
*
Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people .
And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri ,
and threw it out to Joab .
Then he blew a trumpet ,
and they withdrew from the city ,
every man to his tent .
So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem .
*
And Joab was over all the army of Israel ;
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites ;
*
Adoram was in charge of revenue ;
Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder ;
*
Sheva was scribe ;
Zadok and Abiathar were the priests ;
*
and Ira the Jairite was a chief minister under David .
*
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years ,
year after year ;
and David inquired of the LORD .
And the LORD answered , "
It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house ,
because he killed the Gibeonites ."
*
So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them .
Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel ,
but of the remnant of the Amorites ;
the children of Israel had sworn protection to them ,
but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah .
*
Therefore David said to the Gibeonites , "
What shall I do for you ?
And with what shall I make atonement ,
that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD ?"
*
And the Gibeonites said to him , "
We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house ,
nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us ."
So he said , "
Whatever you say ,
I will do for you ."
*
Then they answered the king , "
As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us ,
that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel ,
*
let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us ,
and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul ,
whom the LORD chose ."
And the king said , "
I will give them ."
*
But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan ,
the son of Saul ,
because of the LORD '
s oath that was between them ,
between David and Jonathan the son of Saul .
*
So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth ,
the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah ,
whom she bore to Saul ,
and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul ,
whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite ;
*
and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites ,
and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD .
So they fell ,
all seven together ,
and were put to death in the days of harvest ,
in the first days ,
in the beginning of barley harvest .
*
Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock ,
from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven .
And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night .
*
And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah ,
the concubine of Saul ,
had done .
*
Then David went and took the bones of Saul ,
and the bones of Jonathan his son ,
from the men of Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan ,
where the Philistines had hung them up ,
after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa .
*
So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there ;
and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged .
*
They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah ,
in the tomb of Kish his father .
So they performed all that the king commanded .
And after that God heeded the prayer for the land .
*
When the Philistines were at war again with Israel ,
David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines ;
and David grew faint .
*
Then Ishbi-Benob ,
who was one of the sons of the giant ,
the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels ,
who was bearing a new sword ,
thought he could kill David .
*
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid ,
and struck the Philistine and killed him .
Then the men of David swore to him ,
saying , "
You shall go out no more with us to battle ,
lest you quench the lamp of Israel ."
*
Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob .
Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph ,
who was one of the sons of the giant .
*
Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines ,
where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite ,
the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver '
s beam .
*
Yet again there was war at Gath ,
where there was a man of great stature ,
who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot ,
twenty-four in number ;
and he also was born to the giant .
*
So when he defied Israel ,
Jonathan the son of Shimea ,
David '
s brother ,
killed him .
*
These four were born to the giant in Gath ,
and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants .
*
Then David spoke to the LORD the words of this song ,
on the day when the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies ,
and from the hand of Saul .
*
And he said : "
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer ;
*
The God of my strength ,
in whom I will trust ;
My shield and the horn of my salvation ,
My stronghold and my refuge ;
My Savior ,
You save me from violence .
*
I will call upon the LORD ,
who is worthy to be praised ;
So shall I be saved from my enemies .
* "
When the waves of death surrounded me ,
The floods of ungodliness made me afraid .
*
The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me ;
The snares of death confronted me .
*
In my distress I called upon the LORD ,
And cried out to my God ;
He heard my voice from His temple ,
And my cry entered His ears .
* "
Then the earth shook and trembled ;
The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken ,
Because He was angry .
*
Smoke went up from His nostrils ,
And devouring fire from His mouth ;
Coals were kindled by it .
*
He bowed the heavens also ,
and came down With darkness under His feet .
*
He rode upon a cherub ,
and flew ;
And He was seen upon the wings of the wind .
*
He made darkness canopies around Him ,
Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies .
*
From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled .
* "
The LORD thundered from heaven ,
And the Most High uttered His voice .
*
He sent out arrows and scattered them ;
Lightning bolts ,
and He vanquished them .
*
Then the channels of the sea were seen ,
The foundations of the world were uncovered ,
At the rebuke of the LORD ,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils .
* "
He sent from above ,
He took me ,
He drew me out of many waters .
*
He delivered me from my strong enemy ,
From those who hated me ;
For they were too strong for me .
*
They confronted me in the day of my calamity ,
But the LORD was my support .
*
He also brought me out into a broad place ;
He delivered me because He delighted in me .
* "
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness ;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me .
*
For I have kept the ways of the LORD ,
And have not wickedly departed from my God .
*
For all His judgments were before me ;
And as for His statutes ,
I did not depart from them .
*
I was also blameless before Him ,
And I kept myself from my iniquity .
*
Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness ,
According to my cleanness in His eyes .
* "
With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful ;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless ;
*
With the pure You will show Yourself pure ;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd .
*
You will save the humble people ;
But Your eyes are on the haughty ,
that You may bring them down .
* "
For You are my lamp ,
O LORD ;
The LORD shall enlighten my darkness .
*
For by You I can run against a troop ;
By my God I can leap over a wall .
*
As for God ,
His way is perfect ;
The word of the LORD is proven ;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him .
* "
For who is God ,
except the LORD ?
And who is a rock ,
except our God ?
*
God is my strength and power ,
And He makes my way perfect .
*
He makes my feet like the feet of deer ,
And sets me on my high places .
*
He teaches my hands to make war ,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze .
* "
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation ;
Your gentleness has made me great .
*
You enlarged my path under me ;
So my feet did not slip .
* "
I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them ;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed .
*
And I have destroyed them and wounded them ,
So that they could not rise ;
They have fallen under my feet .
*
For You have armed me with strength for the battle ;
You have subdued under me those who rose against me .
*
You have also given me the necks of my enemies ,
So that I destroyed those who hated me .
*
They looked ,
but there was none to save ;
Even to the LORD ,
but He did not answer them .
*
Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth ;
I trod them like dirt in the streets ,
And I spread them out .
* "
You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people ;
You have kept me as the head of the nations .
A people I have not known shall serve me .
*
The foreigners submit to me ;
As soon as they hear ,
they obey me .
*
The foreigners fade away ,
And come frightened from their hideouts .
* "
The LORD lives !
Blessed be my Rock !
Let God be exalted ,
The Rock of my salvation !
*
It is God who avenges me ,
And subdues the peoples under me ;
*
He delivers me from my enemies .
You also lift me up above those who rise against me ;
You have delivered me from the violent man .
*
Therefore I will give thanks to You ,
O LORD ,
among the Gentiles ,
And sing praises to Your name .
*
He is the tower of salvation to His king ,
And shows mercy to His anointed ,
To David and his descendants forevermore ."
*
Now these are the last words of David .
Thus says David the son of Jesse ;
Thus says the man raised up on high ,
The anointed of the God of Jacob ,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel :
* "
The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me ,
And His word was on my tongue .
*
The God of Israel said ,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me : "
He who rules over men must be just ,
Ruling in the fear of God .
*
And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises ,
A morning without clouds ,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth ,
By clear shining after rain .'
* "
Although my house is not so with God ,
Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant ,
Ordered in all things and secure .
For this is all my salvation and all my desire ;
Will He not make it increase ?
*
But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away ,
Because they cannot be taken with hands .
*
But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear ,
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place ."
*
These are the names of the mighty men whom David had :
Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite ,
chief among the captains .
He was called Adino the Eznite ,
because he had killed eight hundred men at one time .
*
And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo ,
the Ahohite ,
one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle ,
and the men of Israel had retreated .
*
He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary ,
and his hand stuck to the sword .
The LORD brought about a great victory that day ;
and the people returned after him only to plunder .
*
And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite .
The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils .
So the people fled from the Philistines .
*
But he stationed himself in the middle of the field ,
defended it ,
and killed the Philistines .
So the LORD brought about a great victory .
*
Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam .
And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim .
*
David was then in the stronghold ,
and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem .
*
And David said with longing , "
Oh ,
that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem ,
which is by the gate !"
*
So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines ,
drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate ,
and took it and brought it to David .
Nevertheless he would not drink it ,
but poured it out to the LORD .
*
And he said , "
Far be it from me ,
O LORD ,
that I should do this !
Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives ?"
Therefore he would not drink it .
These things were done by the three mighty men .
*
Now Abishai the brother of Joab ,
the son of Zeruiah ,
was chief of another three .
He lifted his spear against three hundred men ,
killed them ,
and won a name among these three .
*
Was he not the most honored of three ?
Therefore he became their captain .
However ,
he did not attain to the first three .
*
Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada ,
the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel ,
who had done many deeds .
He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab .
He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day .
*
And he killed an Egyptian ,
a spectacular man .
The Egyptian had a spear in his hand ;
so he went down to him with a staff ,
wrested the spear out of the Egyptian '
s hand ,
and killed him with his own spear .
*
These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did ,
and won a name among three mighty men .
*
He was more honored than the thirty ,
but he did not attain to the first three .
And David appointed him over his guard .
*
Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty ;
Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem ,
*
Shammah the Harodite ,
Elika the Harodite ,
*
Helez the Paltite ,
Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite ,
*
Abiezer the Anathothite ,
Mebunnai the Hushathite ,
*
Zalmon the Ahohite ,
Maharai the Netophathite ,
*
Heleb the son of Baanah (
the Netophathite ),
Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the children of Benjamin ,
*
Benaiah a Pirathonite ,
Hiddai from the brooks of Gaash ,
*
Abi-Albon the Arbathite ,
Azmaveth the Barhumite ,
*
Eliahba the Shaalbonite (
of the sons of Jashen ),
Jonathan ,
*
Shammah the Hararite ,
Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite ,
*
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai ,
the son of the Maachathite ,
Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite ,
*
Hezrai the Carmelite ,
Paarai the Arbite ,
*
Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah ,
Bani the Gadite ,
*
Zelek the Ammonite ,
Naharai the Beerothite (
armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah ),
*
Ira the Ithrite ,
Gareb the Ithrite ,
*
and Uriah the Hittite :
thirty-seven in all .
*
Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel ,
and He moved David against them to say , "
Go ,
number Israel and Judah ."
*
So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him , "
Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel ,
from Dan to Beersheba ,
and count the people ,
that I may know the number of the people ."
*
And Joab said to the king , "
Now may the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are ,
and may the eyes of my lord the king see it .
But why does my lord the king desire this thing ?"
*
Nevertheless the king '
s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army .
Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel .
*
And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer ,
on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad ,
and toward Jazer .
*
Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi ;
they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon ;
*
and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites .
Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba .
*
So when they had gone through all the land ,
they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days .
*
Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king .
And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword ,
and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men .
*
And David '
s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people .
So David said to the LORD , "
I have sinned greatly in what I have done ;
but now ,
I pray ,
O LORD ,
take away the iniquity of Your servant ,
for I have done very foolishly ."
*
Now when David arose in the morning ,
the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad ,
David '
s seer ,
saying ,
* "
Go and tell David , "
Thus says the LORD : "
I offer you three things ;
choose one of them for yourself ,
that I may do it to you .""'
*
So Gad came to David and told him ;
and he said to him , "
Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land ?
Or shall you flee three months before your enemies ,
while they pursue you ?
Or shall there be three days '
plague in your land ?
Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me ."
*
And David said to Gad , "
I am in great distress .
Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD ,
for His mercies are great ;
but do not let me fall into the hand of man ."
*
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time .
From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died .
*
And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it ,
the LORD relented from the destruction ,
and said to the angel who was destroying the people , "
It is enough ;
now restrain your hand ."
And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite .
*
Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people ,
and said , "
Surely I have sinned ,
and I have done wickedly ;
but these sheep ,
what have they done ?
Let Your hand ,
I pray ,
be against me and against my father '
s house ."
*
And Gad came that day to David and said to him , "
Go up ,
erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite ."
*
So David ,
according to the word of Gad ,
went up as the LORD commanded .
*
Now Araunah looked ,
and saw the king and his servants coming toward him .
So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground .
*
Then Araunah said , "
Why has my lord the king come to his servant ?"
And David said , "
To buy the threshing floor from you ,
to build an altar to the LORD ,
that the plague may be withdrawn from the people ."
*
Now Araunah said to David , "
Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him .
Look ,
here are oxen for burnt sacrifice ,
and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood .
*
All these ,
O king ,
Araunah has given to the king ."
And Araunah said to the king , "
May the LORD your God accept you ."
*
Then the king said to Araunah , "
No ,
but I will surely buy it from you for a price ;
nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing ."
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver .
*
And David built there an altar to the LORD ,
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings .
So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land ,
and the plague was withdrawn from Israel .
![[pBiblx2]](/img/pbiblx2_logo3.png){kind=logo}