David Anointed King Over Judah
1In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.
The Lord said, “Go up.”
David asked, “Where shall I go?”
“To Hebron,” the Lord answered.
2So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns. 4Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah.
When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul, 5he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. 6May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. 7Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.”
War Between the Houses of David and Saul
8Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.
10Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David. 11The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.
12Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.
14Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.”
“All right, let them do it,” Joab said.
15So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. 16Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.2:16 Helkath Hazzurim means field of daggers or field of hostilities.
17The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David’s men.
18The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle. 19He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him. 20Abner looked behind him and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“It is,” he answered.
21Then Abner said to him, “Turn aside to the right or to the left; take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
22Again Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?”
23But Asahel refused to give up the pursuit; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and died on the spot. And every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.
24But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and as the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon. 25Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill.
26Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?”
27Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.”
28So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.
29All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, continued through the morning hours2:29 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. and came to Mahanaim.
30Then Joab stopped pursuing Abner and assembled the whole army. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were found missing. 31But David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner. 32They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.
大卫做犹大王
1这事以后，大卫求问耶和华：“我可以回到犹大的城邑吗？”耶和华说：“可以。”大卫又问：“我应该回到哪一座城呢？”耶和华说：“希伯仑。” 2大卫就带着他的两个妻子耶斯列人亚希暖和迦密人拿八的遗孀亚比该，一起上到希伯仑。 3他还把部下和他们的家属一起带去，住在希伯仑地区的城邑。 4犹大人到希伯仑膏立大卫做犹大支派的王。
大卫听说是基列·雅比人埋葬了扫罗， 5就派使者去告诉他们：“你们这样厚待你们的主人扫罗，把他安葬，愿耶和华赐福给你们！ 6愿耶和华以慈爱和信实待你们，我也会厚待你们，因为你们做了这事。 7现在你们的主扫罗已经死了，犹大支派已经膏立我做他们的王，你们要刚强勇敢。”
大卫家与扫罗家争战
8那时，扫罗的元帅——尼珥的儿子押尼珥带着扫罗的儿子伊施·波设过河来到玛哈念， 9立他为王统治基列、亚书利、耶斯列、以法莲、便雅悯和以色列其余的地方。 10扫罗的儿子伊施·波设四十岁登基，统治以色列两年。犹大支派则跟随大卫。 11大卫在希伯仑做王统治犹大支派七年半。
12有一次，尼珥的儿子押尼珥带领扫罗的儿子伊施·波设的军队，从玛哈念前往基遍。 13洗鲁雅的儿子约押带领大卫的军队出来，在基遍池与他们相遇。一方坐在池这边，一方坐在池那边。 14押尼珥对约押说：“让双方的青年起来，在我们面前较量一下吧。”约押说：“好啊。” 15于是，伊施·波设的便雅悯人和大卫的仆人双方都起身选了十二人出来， 16他们各自抓住对方的头发，用刀刺对方的肋旁，同归于尽。于是基遍的那个地方叫“刀田”。 17那天，两军恶战，押尼珥和以色列人被大卫的人马杀败。 18当时，洗鲁雅的三个儿子约押、亚比筛和亚撒黑都在场。亚撒黑跑得飞快如田野的鹿， 19他跟在押尼珥后面，不偏不离，穷追不舍。 20押尼珥回头问道：“你是亚撒黑吗？”亚撒黑说：“正是。” 21押尼珥说：“你离开我，去追赶别人，夺取他的兵器吧。”但亚撒黑还是穷追不舍。 22押尼珥又对他说：“别追我了，非逼我杀你吗？我若杀了你，还有何颜面见你哥哥约押呢？” 23但亚撒黑还是不肯罢休。押尼珥就用枪柄刺入他的肚腹，穿透了他的后背，他便倒地身亡。众人赶到那里，都停了下来。
24但约押和亚比筛却继续追赶押尼珥。太阳落山时，他们追到了基亚附近的亚玛山，通往基遍旷野的路旁。 25便雅悯人在押尼珥的带领下聚集在一个山头上。 26押尼珥向约押喊道：“我们非要无休止地杀下去吗？难道你不知道这样下去必有苦果吗？你什么时候才命令你的人停止追杀自己的同胞呢？” 27约押说：“我凭永活的上帝起誓，你要是不这样说，我们会一直追到天亮。” 28于是，约押吹响号角，所有的人便停止了战斗，不再追击以色列人。
29押尼珥和随从连夜赶路，穿过了亚拉巴，过了约旦河，第二天又马不停蹄地走了一个上午，回到玛哈念。 30约押追赶押尼珥回来后细点人数，发现除亚撒黑外大卫的军队还损失了十九个人。 31大卫的军队杀了三百六十个跟随押尼珥的便雅悯人。 32约押和他的随从把亚撒黑送到伯利恒，葬在他父亲的坟墓里。然后，他们整夜赶路，黎明的时候回到了希伯仑。
