O Assassinato de Is-Bosete
1Ao saber que Abner havia morrido em Hebrom, Is-Bosete, filho de Saul, perdeu a coragem, e todo o Israel ficou alarmado. 2Ora, o filho de Saul tinha a seu serviço dois líderes de grupos de ataque. Um deles chamava-se Baaná; o outro, Recabe; ambos filhos de Rimom, de Beerote, da tribo de Benjamim; a cidade de Beerote era considerada parte de Benjamim. 3O povo de Beerote fugiu para Gitaim e até hoje vive ali como estrangeiro.
4(Jônatas, filho de Saul, tinha um filho aleijado dos pés. Ele tinha cinco anos de idade quando chegou a notícia de Jezreel de que Saul e Jônatas haviam morrido. Sua ama o apanhou e fugiu, mas, na pressa, ela o deixou cair, e ele ficou manco. Seu nome era Mefibosete.)
5Aconteceu então que Recabe e Baaná, filhos de Rimom, de Beerote, foram à casa de Is-Bosete na hora mais quente do dia, na hora do seu descanso do meio-dia. 6Os dois entraram na casa como se fossem buscar trigo, traspassaram-lhe o estômago e depois fugiram.
7Eles haviam entrado na casa enquanto Is-Bosete estava deitado em seu quarto. Depois de o traspassar e matar, cortaram-lhe a cabeça. E, levando-a, viajaram toda a noite pela rota da Arabá. 8Levaram a cabeça de Is-Bosete a Davi, em Hebrom, e lhe disseram: “Aqui está a cabeça de Is-Bosete, filho de Saul, teu inimigo, que tentou tirar-te a vida. Hoje o Senhor vingou o nosso rei e senhor, de Saul e de sua descendência”.
9Davi respondeu a Recabe e a Baaná, seu irmão, filhos de Rimom, de Beerote: “Juro pelo nome do Senhor, que me tem livrado de todas as aflições: 10quando um homem me disse que Saul estava morto, pensando que me trazia boa notícia, eu o agarrei e o matei em Ziclague, como recompensa pela notícia que trouxe! 11Muito mais agora, que homens ímpios mataram um inocente em sua própria casa e em sua própria cama! Vou castigá-los e eliminá-los da face da terra porque vocês fizeram correr o sangue dele!”
12Então Davi deu ordem a seus soldados, e eles os mataram. Depois cortaram as mãos e os pés deles e penduraram os corpos junto ao açude de Hebrom. Mas sepultaram a cabeça de Is-Bosete no túmulo de Abner, em Hebrom.
Ish-Bosheth murdered
1When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. 2Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rekab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin – Beeroth is considered part of Benjamin, 3because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim and have resided there as foreigners to this day.
4(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.)
5Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth, and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest. 6They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away.
7They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they travelled all night by way of the Arabah. 8They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, ‘Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.’
9David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, 10when someone told me, “Saul is dead,” and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! 11How much more – when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed – should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!’
12So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them. They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.
