David Anointed King of Judah 1After this, Dauid asked counsel at the lord, saying: Shall I go vp into any of the cities of Iuda? And the Lorde sayd vnto him: Go vp. And Dauid said: Whyther shall I go? He aunswered: Unto Hebron. 2And so Dauid went thyther with his two wyues, Ahinoam the Iezraelite, & Abigail Nabals wyfe the Carmelite. 3And the men that were with him did Dauid cary vp also, euery man with his housholde: And they dwelt in the townes of Hebron. 4And the men of Iuda came, and there they annoynted Dauid kyng ouer the house of Iuda: And they tolde Dauid, saying, It is the men of Iabes Gilead that buried Saul. 5And Dauid sent messengers vnto the men of Iabes Gilead, and sayde vnto them: Blessed are ye vnto the lord, that ye haue shewed suche kindnesse vnto your lord Saul, and haue buried him. 6And nowe the Lorde shewe mercy and trueth vnto you: And I will do you also suche kindnes, as ye haue done in this thing: 7Therfore nowe let your handes be strong, and play ye the men: For your maister Saul is dead, and they that are of the house of Iuda haue annoynted me king ouer them. Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel 8But Abner the sonne of Ner that was captayne of Sauls hoaste, toke Isboseth the sonne of Saul, and brought him to Mahanaim, 9And made him king ouer Gilead, and ouer the Assurites, and ouer Iezrael, Ephraim, Beniamin, & ouer all Israel. 10And Isboseth Sauls sonne was fourtie yeres olde when he began to raigne ouer Israel, and raigned two yeres: But the house of Iuda folowed Dauid. 11(And the time whiche Dauid raigned in Hebron ouer the house of Iuda, was seuen yeres and sixe monethes.) The Battle of Gibeon 12And Abner the sonne of Ner, and the seruauntes of Isboseth the sonne of Saul wet out of Mahanaim to Gibeon 13And Ioab the sonne of Zaruia, and the seruauntes of Dauid, went out and met one another by the poole of Gibeon: And they sate downe, the one on the one side of the poole, and the other on the other side. 14And Abner sayde to Ioab: Let the young men nowe aryse, and play before vs. And Ioab sayde: Let them aryse. 15Then there arose & went ouer twelue of Beniamin by numbre, which pertayned to Isboseth the sonne of Saul, and twelue of the seruauntes of Dauid. 16And euery one caught his felowe by ye head, & thrust his sword in his felowes side, and so they fell downe together: Wherefore the place was called Helkath hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17And there was an exceeding cruell battel that same day: For Abner and the men of Israel fell before the seruauntes of Dauid. 18And there were three sonnes of Zaruia there: Ioab, Abisai, and Asahel: And Asahel was as light of foote as a wilde Roe. 19And Asahel folowed after Abner, and in goyng he turned neither to the right hande nor to the left, from Abner. 20Then Abner loked behynd him, and sayde: Art thou Asahel? He aunswered: Yea. 21Abner sayd: Turne thee either to the right hande or the left, and catche one of the young men, and take thee his weapons. But Asahel woulde not depart from him. 22And Abner sayd agayne to Asahel, Depart fro me: Wherfore should I smite thee to the grounde, and not be able to holde vp my face to Ioab thy brother? 23Howebeit, when he woulde in no wyse depart, Abner with the hynder ende of the speare smote him vnder the fyft ribbe, that the speare came out behinde him, that he fell downe in the same place, and died there: And as many as came to the place where Asahel fell downe and died, stoode still. 24Ioab also and Abisai pursued after Abner: And the sunne went downe when they were come to the hil Amma, that lyeth before Giah, by the way of the wildernesse of Gibeon. 25And the children of Beniamin gathered them selues together after Abner, & were on a heape, and stoode on the top of an hill. 26Then Abner called to Ioab, and said: Shall the sword deuour for euer? Knowest thou not, that it wil be bitternesse in the latter ende? Howe long then shall it be yer thou bid the people returne from folowing their brethren? 27And Ioab sayde: As God lyueth, if thou haddest not spoken, suerly euen in the morning the people had departed, euery one from persecuting his brother. 28And so Ioab blewe a trumpet, and all the people stoode still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. 29And Abner and his men walked all that night through the playne, & went ouer Iordane, & past through all Bethhoron, till they came to Mahanaim.
30And Ioab returned from persecuting Abner, and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of Dauids seruautes nineteene men, & Asahel.
31But the seruauntes of Dauid had smitten of Beniamin and of Abners men, |
    |