1And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of YHWH, saying, "Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?" And YHWH said to him, "Go up." And David said, "Where shall I go up?" And He said, "To Hebron."
2And David went up there, and also his two wives (ishah), Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife (ishah) of Nabal the Carmelite.
3And his men (ish) who were with him David brought up, each man (ish) and his household; and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
4And the men (ish) of Judah came, and they anointed David there as king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, "The men (ish) of Jabesh-gilead were they who buried Saul."
5And David sent messengers to the men (ish) of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, "Blessed are you to YHWH, for you have done this kindness with your lord, with Saul, and have buried him.
6And now, may YHWH do with you kindness and truth; and I also will do this good with you, because you have done this thing.
7And now, let your hands be strong, and be sons of valor; for your lord Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me as king over them."
8And Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host that was Saul's, 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 a son of forty years when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah were after 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, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out; and they met them by the pool of Gibeon together; and these sat on the one side of the pool, and these on the other side of the pool.
14And Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men, please, arise and play before us." And Joab said, "Let them arise."
15And they arose and passed over by number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
16And they seized each man (ish) the head of his fellow, and his sword into the side of his fellow; and they fell together. And that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.
17And the battle was very hard on that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men (ish) of Israel, before the servants of David.
18And there were three sons of Zeruiah there: Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was light of his feet, like one of the gazelles that are in the field.
19And Asahel pursued after Abner, and he did not turn aside to go to the right or to the left from after Abner.
20And Abner turned behind him and said, "Is it 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 young men, and take for yourself his armor." But Asahel would not turn aside from after him.
22And Abner again said to Asahel, "Turn aside from after me. Why should I smite you to the ground? And how then could I lift up my face to Joab your brother?"
23But he refused to turn aside, and Abner smote him with the back end of the spear in the belly, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell there and died in his place. And it came to pass, that everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell and died stood still.
24And Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner; and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
25And the sons of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one band, and stood on the top of one hill.
26And Abner called to Joab and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitterness in the end? And until when will you not say to the people to return from after their brothers?"
27And Joab said, "As God lives (chai), surely if you had not spoken, surely then from the morning the people would have gone up, each man (ish) from after his brother."
28And Joab blew the horn, and all the people stood still, and pursued no more after Israel, neither did they fight any more.
29And Abner and his men (ish) went through the Arabah all that night; and they crossed the Jordan, and went through all the Bithron, and came to Mahanaim.
30And Joab returned from after Abner, and gathered all the people; and there were missing of David's servants nineteen men (ish) and Asahel.
31But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin and among the men (ish) of Abner three hundred and sixty men (ish) who died.
32And they took up Asahel and buried him in the grave of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men (ish) went all the night, and it became light for them at Hebron.