1 Samuel 30 - 2 Samuel 3

Evangelical Heritage Version

David and the Amalekites

30 David and his men arrived at Ziklag on the third day.

In the meantime the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down. ² They had taken the women captive, along with everyone who was there, from the least to the greatest.^[a] They did not kill anyone, but they carried them off and went on their way.

³ So when David and his men came to the city, they saw that it had been burned and that their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the troops who were with him wept loudly, until they had no more strength to weep. ⁵ David’s two wives had been taken captive, namely, Ahinoam from Jezre’el and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal from Carmel. ⁶ David was under a great deal of pressure because his men were talking about stoning him. The spirit of every one of them was very bitter because of their sons and daughters, but David found strength in the Lord his God.

⁷ David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring the special vest^[b] of the priest here to me.” So Abiathar brought the special vest to David. ⁸ David inquired of the Lord, “Should I pursue this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?”

The Lord answered him, “Pursue! You will certainly overtake them and recover everything.”

⁹ So David set out with the six hundred men who were with him. When they came to the stream^[c] called the Besor, the men who were unable to keep up stayed there. ¹⁰ David pursued with four hundred men, because two hundred stayed behind, so exhausted that they could not get across the ravine of the Besor.

¹¹ They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink. ¹² They also gave him a piece from a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. When he had eaten, he was revived. (He had eaten no bread and had drunk no water for three days and three nights.) ¹³ David asked him, “Whose servant are you? Where are you from?”

The young man said, “I am from Egypt, a slave to an Amalekite. My master left me behind when I became sick three days ago. ¹⁴ We made a raid on the Negev of the Kerethites, and on the territory of Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag.”

¹⁵ David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this raiding party?”

He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will bring you down to this raiding party.”

¹⁶ When he had brought David to them, there the Amalekites were, scattered all over the place! They were eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷ David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and escaped. ¹⁸ David recovered everything that the Amalekites had taken. David also rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ There was nothing missing, from the least to the greatest, neither sons nor daughters, nor any plunder, nor anything else that they had taken with them. David brought it all back. ²⁰ David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove ahead of the other livestock, and the men were saying, “This is David’s plunder.”

²¹ When David approached the two hundred men whom they had left at the Besor because they were too exhausted to follow him, they went out to meet David and the men who were with him. David came up to the men who had been left behind and wished them well, ²² but all the wicked men and worthless troublemakers among those who had accompanied David responded, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder that we have recovered, except we will give every man his wife and his children, so that he can take them and leave.”

²³ Then David said, “Do not act that way, my brothers, with what the Lord has given to us. He is the one who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the raiders who came against us. ²⁴ Who can listen to this proposal of yours? No, the same share that is given to the one who goes down to the battle will be given to the one who stays with the supplies. They shall have an equal share.” ²⁵ So from that day forward, David made this a rule and precedent for Israel that lasts to this day.

²⁶ When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were sympathetic to him,^[d] and said, “Look, here is a blessing for you from the plunder taken from the Lord’s enemies.” ²⁷ He sent it to the elders who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, Jattir, ²⁸ Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, ²⁹ and Rakal; to those who were in the towns of the Jerahme’elites and the towns of the Kenites; ³⁰ to those who were in Hormah, Borashan, and Athak; ³¹ to those who were in Hebron and all the other places where David himself and his men had wandered.

The Death of Saul and Jonathan

31 In the meantime, the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and fell mortally wounded at Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines were closing in on Saul and his sons. They struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua, the sons of Saul. ³ The attack directed at Saul was fierce. The archers targeted him and hit him, and he was seriously wounded.

⁴ Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, so that these uncircumcised fellows cannot come and run me through and abuse me!”

But his armor bearer would not do it, because he was too afraid. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul died together with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men, all on that same day.

⁷ When the men of Israel from the other side of the valley and those from beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and lived in those cities.

⁸ On the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those who had been killed in the battle, they found Saul and his three sons fallen at Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off his head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to the temple of their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his armor and weapons in the temple of the Ashtartes,^[e] and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹ When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the strong, courageous men set out, traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons down from the wall of Beth Shan. They returned to Jabesh and burned them there. ¹³ They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed at Ziklag for two days. ² Then, on the third day, a man arrived from Saul’s camp. His clothing was torn, and there was dirt on his head. When he approached David, he fell to the ground and bowed down to him.

³ David said to him, “Where are you coming from?”

He answered, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

⁴ David said to him, “What was the outcome? Tell me!”

The man said, “The people fled from the battle. Many of the people were struck down and died. Even Saul and his son Jonathan have died.”

⁵ David said to the young man who was talking to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶ The young man who was talking to him said, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa. There I saw Saul, leaning on his spear. The chariots and charioteers^[f] were closing in on him. ⁷ When Saul looked behind him, he saw me and called to me and I answered, ‘I am here.’

⁸ “He said to me, ‘Who are you?’

“I said to him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’

⁹ “Saul said to me, ‘Please stand beside me and put me to death. I am losing consciousness, but I am still alive.’^{[g] 10} So I stood beside him and ended his life, because I knew that he could not live after being so severely wounded. I took the crown on his head and the armlet on his arm, and I brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹ David and all the men with him grabbed their clothing and tore it. ¹² Until evening they mourned, wept, and fasted for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³ David asked the young man who had told him about Saul, “Where are you from?”

He said, “I am an Amalekite, who lives here as an alien.”

¹⁴ David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

¹⁵ David called to one of the young men, “Come here. Kill him!” He struck him down, and he died.

¹⁶ David said to him, “Your blood will be on your own head, because your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

David’s Lament

¹⁷ David mourned with this funeral song about Saul and his son Jonathan. ¹⁸ He gave orders to teach the men of Judah this song, which was named “The Bow,” so it was recorded in the Book of Jashar.^[h]

David Reigns in Hebron

2 After this, David asked the Lord, “Should I go up into one of the cities of Judah?”

The Lord said to him, “Go up.”

David said, “Where shall I go up?”

The Lord said, “To Hebron.”

² So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezre’el and Abigail of Carmel, who was Nabal’s widow. ³ David also brought along the men who were with him, each man together with his household, and they settled in the towns around Hebron.

⁴ The men of Judah came there and anointed David to be king over the house of Judah.

David was told, “The men of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.” ⁵ So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead and said to them, “You are blessed by the Lord because you performed this act of mercy and faithfulness for your master Saul by burying him. ⁶ Now may the Lord deal with you with mercy and faithfulness. I also will treat you well because you have done this. ⁷ Now let your hands be strong and courageous, for your master Saul is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me to be king over them.”

⁸ However, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth,^[k] the son of Saul, to Mahanaim ⁹ and made him king over Gilead, Ashuri,^[l] and Jezre’el, and over Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. ¹⁰ Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years.

But the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹ David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah for seven years and six months.

¹² Abner son of Ner and the followers of Ishbosheth son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³ Joab son of Zeruiah and the followers of David went out and confronted them at the pool^[m] of Gibeon. They took up positions on the opposite sides of the pool.

¹⁴ Abner said to Joab, “The young men should get up and compete in front of us.”

Joab said, “Yes, let them do so.”

¹⁵ So twelve representatives for Benjamin and Ishbosheth son of Saul got up and crossed over to confront twelve representatives for David. ¹⁶ Each one grabbed his opponent’s head and thrust his sword into his side. Together, they all fell. So that place, which is near Gibeon, was called Helkath Hatsurim.^{[n] 17} A fierce battle took place that day. Abner and the men of Israel were beaten by the followers of David.

¹⁸ Three sons of Zeruiah were there, namely, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the gazelles out in the fields. ¹⁹ Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn aside to the right or to the left from his pursuit.

²⁰ Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

He said, “Yes, it is.”

²¹ Abner said to him, “Turn to your right hand or to your left and capture one of the young men for yourself and strip off his equipment for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside.

²² So Abner warned him again, “Turn aside. Stop following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I face Joab your brother?” ²³ But Asahel refused to turn aside, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the pointed butt of his spear. The spear came out his back, and he fell down and died right there. Everyone stopped and just stood there when they came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

²⁴ But Joab and Abishai keep pursuing Abner. The sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah in front of Giah, on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵ The Benjaminites rallied together behind Abner, joined in one formation, and took their stand on the top of one hill.

²⁶ Abner called to Joab, “Will the sword continue to devour? Do you not know that it will be bitter when all this is over? How long will you delay telling the people to stop pursuing their brothers?”

²⁷ Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely it would have been morning before the people would have given up pursuing their brothers.” ²⁸ So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the people stopped pursuing Israel. They did not continue to fight.

²⁹ Abner and his men traveled through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan, marched through the entire region of Bithron,^[o] and came to Mahanaim.

³⁰ Joab returned from pursuing Abner and gathered together all his troops. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were missing. ³¹ The followers of David had struck dead three hundred sixty of Abner’s men from the tribe of Benjamin. ³² The men of Judah picked up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father at Bethlehem.

Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron as it was becoming light.

3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David kept getting stronger, and the house of Saul kept getting weaker.

David’s Sons

² Sons were born to David at Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon, who was born to Ahinoam from Jezre’el. ³ His second was Kileab, who was born to Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. The third was Absalom, who was the son of Ma’akah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur. ⁴ The fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital. ⁵ The sixth, Ithream, was born to David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner and Ishbosheth

⁶ While the war was going on between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner kept gaining power within the house of Saul.

⁷ Saul had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone to the concubine of my father?”

⁸ Abner became very angry because of the words of Ishbosheth and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? To this day I have acted with loyalty toward the house of your father Saul, to his relatives, and to his friends. In addition, I have not handed you over to David, but today you make accusations against me concerning this woman! ⁹ May God punish me severely and double it,^[p] if I do not do for David what the Lord has sworn about him ¹⁰ by transferring the kingdom from the house of Saul and establishing the throne of David over both Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” ¹¹ Ishbosheth was not able to say anything to Abner anymore because he was afraid of him.

Abner and David

¹² Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David. They said, “Whose land is it? Make a covenant with me. Look, my hand is with you to turn the allegiance of all Israel to you.”

¹³ David said, “Good. I will make a covenant with you, but I require one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring to me Michal, the daughter of Saul, when you come.”

¹⁴ David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son. They delivered this demand: “Give me my wife Michal, whom I obtained as my wife with a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”

¹⁵ Ishbosheth sent and took her away from her husband, Paltiel son of Laish. ¹⁶ Her husband accompanied her to Bahurim, weeping all the way, but Abner told him, “Go back,” so he went home.

¹⁷ Abner also delivered the following message to the elders of Israel: “Day after day you have been seeking to have David as king over you. ¹⁸ Now do it, because the Lord said to David, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will rescue^[q] my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’”

¹⁹ Abner also spoke to the tribe of Benjamin. Then he spoke to David in Hebron about everything that Israel and all the house of Benjamin had approved.

²⁰ Abner and twenty men along with him came to David at Hebron, and David held a feast for Abner and his men. ²¹ Abner said to David, “I will go and gather all Israel to my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you. You will rule over all that your heart desires.” David sent Abner away in peace.

Abner and Joab

²² Just then the soldiers of David and Joab came back from a raid. They brought a large amount of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away in peace. ²³ When Joab and all the army with him arrived, Joab was informed that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that David had sent him away in peace.

²⁴ So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner came to you. Why have you sent him away? You let him get away! ²⁵ You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to learn about your comings and goings and everything that you are doing.”

²⁶ Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the cistern at Sirah without David’s knowledge. ²⁷ So Abner returned to Hebron, and Joab took him aside into the gatehouse to speak with him. There he stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner was killed because of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

²⁸ Afterward David heard about it and said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord forever concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. ²⁹ May his blood splash down on the head of Joab and on the entire house of his father. May the house of Joab never lack a man who has an oozing sore, who is a leper, who holds a spindle,^[r] who falls by the sword, or who has no bread.”

³⁰ Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had caused the death of their brother Asahel during the battle at Gibeon.

³¹ David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothing. Put on sackcloth and mourn for Abner.” King David walked behind the stretcher^[s] that was carrying his body. ³² They buried Abner at Hebron, and the king wept loudly at the grave of Abner. All the people also wept. ³³ The king lamented over Abner, “Should Abner have died as a fool dies? ³⁴ Your hands were not tied up, and your feet were not bound with iron shackles. You have fallen as one falls before the wicked.” All the people continued to weep over him.

³⁵ All the people came to try to persuade David to eat on that day, but David swore, “May God punish me severely and double it, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down.”

³⁶ All the people took notice and approved of this, as they approved of everything that the king did. ³⁷ All the people, all Israel, knew on that day that it was not the king’s idea to kill Abner son of Ner. ³⁸ The king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a great commander has fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹ Today I am weak, even though I am the anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me. I pray that the Lord will pay back the evildoer in proportion to his wickedness.”