1And when Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, he lost all courage, and all the Israelites were troubled.
2And Ish-bosheth had two men who were captains of bands: one named Baanah, and the other named Rechab, sons of Rimmon, a Beerothite, of the tribe of Benjamin; (for Beeroth also was considered part of Benjamin;
3And the Beerothites had fled to Gittaim, and lived there as sojourners (foreigners) until this day.)
4And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son named Mephibosheth; and he was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the news came of (of the death of) Saul and Jonathan came out of Jezreel, and his nurse picked him up, and fled; and in her haste to flee, she dropped him, and he became lame.
5And the sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, came to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed in the heat of the day about noon.
6And they came into the house, as though they had come to fetch wheat; and they stabbed him (Ish-bosheth) under the fifth rib; and they, Rechab and his brother Baanah, escaped.
7For when they had come into the house, Ish-bosheth lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they killed and beheaded him, and took his head, and fled through the plain all night.
8And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, and said to the king, “Look, the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; and the LORD has avenged my lord, the king, this day of Saul, and of his offspring”.
9And David answered Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, Who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
10When someone told me, “Look, Saul is dead”, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his news, and killed him in Ziklag,
11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person on his bed in his own house? Shall I not, therefore, now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?”
12And David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the sepulcher (grave) of Abner in Hebron. Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |
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