¹It happened after this that David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?" Yahweh said to him, "Go up." David said, "Where shall I go up?" He said, "To Hebron."

²David went up there, and also his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

³David brought up his men who were with him, each man with his household, and they dwelled in the cities of Hebron.

⁴The men of Judah came and anointed David there as king over the house of Judah. They told David, "The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul."

⁵And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “Blessed are you by Yahweh, you who did this loyal love with your lord, with Saul, and buried him.”

⁶And now, may Yahweh do loyal love and stability with you; and I also will do this good with you, because you did this word.

⁷And now, let your hands be strong and be sons of strength; for your lord Saul has died, and the house of Judah have also anointed me king over them.

⁸And Abner the son of Ner, chief of the army that belonged to Saul, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.

⁹And he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

¹⁰Ish-bosheth the son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years; only the house of Judah followed David.

¹¹And the number of the days that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

¹²And Abner the son of Ner went out, with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them together at the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, these on this side of the pool and those on that side of the pool.

¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, “Please, let the youths rise and play before us.” And Joab said, “Let them rise.”

¹⁵And they rose and passed over by number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

¹⁶And each took hold of the head of his companion, with his sword in his companion's side, and they fell together; and that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

¹⁷And the battle was exceedingly harsh on that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were struck down before the servants of David.

¹⁸And the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was swift on his feet, like one of the gazelles that are in the field.

¹⁹And Asahel ran after Abner, and did not turn aside to go to the right or to the left from following Abner.

²⁰And Abner turned and looked behind him and said, “Is this you, Asahel?” And he said, “It is I.”

²¹And Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left, and seize for yourself one of the youths, and take for yourself what you strip from him.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him.

²²And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me! Why should I strike you down to the land? And how could I lift up my face to Joab your brother?”

²³And he refused to turn aside, and Abner struck him in the belly with the hind end of the spear, and the spear came out behind him; and he fell there and died on the spot. And everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell there and died stood still.

²⁴And Joab and Abishai ran after Abner, and the sun set; and they came as far as the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵And the sons of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner, and became one band, and took their stand on the top of one hill.

²⁶And Abner called out to Joab and said, “Is the sword to devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? And how long will you not tell the people to turn back from following their brothers?”

²⁷And Joab said, “As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then the people would have gone up in the morning, each from following his brother.”

²⁸And Joab blew the horn, and all the people stood still, and they no longer ran after Israel, and they did not go on fighting any more.

²⁹And Abner and his men walked through the Arabah all that night, and crossed the Jordan, and went through the whole Bitron, and came to Mahanaim.

³⁰And Joab turned back from following Abner and gathered all the people; and nineteen men of the servants of David were found missing, and Asahel.

³¹And the servants of David had struck down, from Benjamin and among the men of Abner, three hundred and sixty men; they had died.

³²And they lifted up Asahel and buried him in the grave of his father, which is in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men walked all the night, and it grew light for them at Hebron.