1 Depois disso, Davi consultou o Senhor: Devo subir a alguma das cidades de Judá?, perguntou ele. Vai, respondeu o Senhor. Davi retomou: Aonde irei? A Hebron.
2 Davi subiu a Hebron com suas duas mulheres, Aquinoã de Jezrael e Abigail, viúva de Nabal, de Carmelo.
3 Levou também Davi os homens de sua tropa com suas famílias, e fixaram-se nas cidades de Hebron.
4 Os homens de Judá foram ali e sagraram Davi rei da casa de Judá. Foi anunciado ao rei que os homens de Jabes em Galaad haviam sepultado Saul.
5 Davi mandou-lhes mensageiros, dizendo: Benditos sejais pelo Senhor, por terdes feito esta obra de misericórdia para com o vosso senhor Saul, sepultando-o!
6 Que o Senhor, por sua vez, se mostre bom e fiel para convosco; e eu também vos beneficiarei por essa ação que fizestes.
7 Coragem! Sede homens valentes! Vosso senhor Saul morreu, e a casa de Judá me ungiu por seu rei.
8 Entretanto, Abner, filho de Ner, chefe do exército de Saul, tomou Isboset, filho de Saul, e levou-o a Maanaim,
9 onde o declarou rei sobre Galaad, sobre os assuritas, sobre Jezrael, Efraim, Benjamim e sobre todo o Israel.
10 Isboset, filho de Saul, tinha quarenta anos quando se tornou rei de Israel, e reinou dois anos. Só a casa de Judá seguiu Davi.
11 Sete anos e meio reinou Davi sobre a casa de Judá em Hebron.
12 Abner, filho de Ner, e os homens de Isboset, filho de Saul, saíram de Maanaim para Gabaon.
13 Joab, filho de Sarvia, e a gente de Davi, puseram-se também em marcha e encontraram-nos perto da piscina de Gabaon, acampando uns de um lado da piscina e outros de outro.
14 Abner disse a Joab: Aproximem-se os jovens para lutar em nossa presença. Vamos!, respondeu Joab.
15 Apresentaram-se, pois, doze homens de Benjamim, da parte de Isboset, filho de Saul, e doze da gente de Davi.
16 Tomando cada um a cabeça do seu adversário, mergulhou-lhe a espada no flanco, de tal modo que caíram ambos ao mesmo tempo. Deu-se a esse lugar o nome Helcat Hassurim, em Gabaon.
17 Travou-se rude batalha naquele dia, tendo Abner e os homens de Israel cedido diante dos homens de Davi.
18 Estavam ali os três filhos de Sarvia: Joab, Abisaí e Asael. Asael tinha os pés ligeiros como uma gazela selvagem.
19 Pôs-se a perseguir Abner, sem se desviar nem para a direita, nem para a esquerda.
20 És tu, Asael?, disse-lhe Abner, voltando-se. Sim.
21 Volta-te à direita ou à esquerda, ataca um desses homens e leva-lhe os despojos. Mas Asael não quis deixá-lo.
22 Abner disse-lhe novamente: Deixa-me. Queres que eu te fira e te deite por terra? Como poderia eu depois aparecer diante do teu irmão Joab?
23 Mas como ele se recusasse a abandoná-lo, Abner feriu-o no ventre com a ponta de sua lança. A lança saiu-lhe pelas costas e Asael caiu, morrendo ali mesmo. Todos os que chegavam ao lugar onde ele jazia morto se detinham.
24 Joab e Abisaí continuaram a perseguir Abner; o sol se punha quando chegaram à colina de Ama, a oriente de Giac, no caminho para o deserto de Gabaon.
25 Então os benjaminitas, que se tinham ajuntado atrás de Abner, formaram-se numa tropa e fizeram alto no cimo de uma colina.
26 Abner chamou Joab e disse-lhe: Não cessará a espada de devorar? Não sabes porventura que isso acabará mal? Que esperas para ordenar a esses homens que cessem de perseguir seus irmãos?
27 Joab respondeu: Pela vida de Deus! Se nada tivesses dito, esses homens não teriam cessado de perseguir seus irmãos antes de amanhã.
28 Joab tocou a trombeta; a tropa cessou de perseguir os israelitas, e o combate terminou.
29 Abner e sua gente caminharam toda a noite na planície; passaram o Jordão, seguiram todo o desfiladeiro e atingiram Maanaim.
30 Joab, tendo cessado a perseguição, juntou todo o seu povo: faltavam dezenove homens da gente de Davi, sem contar Asael.
31 Mas os homens de Davi tinham matado trezentos e sessenta homens entre os benjaminitas e os de Abner.
32 Levaram Asael e sepultaram-no no túmulo de seu pai, em Belém. Joab e seus homens caminharam durante toda a noite; chegaram a Hebron ao despontar da aurora.
1 Now after this, David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go up into any of the towns of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go up. And David said, Where am I to go? And he said, To Hebron.
2 So David went there, taking with him his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
3 And David took all his men with him, every man with his family: and they were living in the towns round Hebron.
4 And the men of Judah came there, and with the holy oil made David king over the people of Judah. And word came to David that it was the men of Jabesh-gilead who put Saul's body in its last resting-place.
5 And David sent to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, May the Lord give you his blessing, because you have done this kind act to Saul your lord, and have put his body to rest!
6 May the Lord be good and true to you: and I myself will see that your kind act is rewarded, because you have done this thing.
7 Then let your hands be strong, and have no fear: though Saul your lord is dead, the people of Judah have made me their king.
8 Now Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Saul's son Ish-bosheth over to Mahanaim,
9 And made him king over Gilead and the Asherites and over Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin, that is, over all Israel.
10 (Saul's son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was ruler for two years.) But Judah was on the side of David.
11 And the time when David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah was seven years and six months.
12 And Abner, the son of Ner, with the servants of Saul's son Ish-bosheth, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and came face to face with them by the pool of Gibeon; and they took up their position, facing one another on opposite sides of the pool.
14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men give a test of their strength before us. And Joab said, Let them do so.
15 So they got up and went over by number: twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth and twelve of the servants of David.
16 And every one got the other by the head, driving his sword into the other's side, so they all went down together: and that place was named the Field of Sides, and it is in Gibeon.
17 And there was hard fighting that day; and Abner and the men of Israel gave way before the servants of David.
18 There were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel: and Asahel was as quick-footed as a roe of the fields.
19 Asahel went running after Abner, not turning to the right or to the left.
20 Then Abner, looking back, said, Is it you, Asahel? And he said, It is I.
21 And Abner said, Then go to the right or to the left and put your hands on one of the fighting-men and take his arms. But Asahel would not be turned away from going after Abner.
22 Then again Abner said to Asahel, Go to one side, do not keep on coming after me: why will you make me put an end to you? for then I will be shamed before your brother Joab.
23 But still he did not go to one side: so Abner gave him a back blow in the stomach with his spear, so that the spear came out at his back; and he went down on the earth, wounded to death: and all those who came to the place where Asahel went down dead, came to a stop.
24 But Joab and Abishai went after Abner: and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is to the east of the road through the waste land of Geba.
25 And the men of Benjamin came together after Abner in one band, and took their places on the top of a hill.
26 Then crying out to Joab, Abner said, Are fighting and destruction to go on for ever? do you not see that the end will only be bitter? how long will it be before you send the people back and make them give up attacking their countrymen?
27 And Joab said, By the living God, if you had not given the word, the people would have gone on attacking their countrymen till the morning.
28 So Joab had a horn sounded, and all the people came to a stop, and gave up going after Israel and fighting them.
29 And all that night Abner and his men went through the Arabah; they went over Jordan and through all Bithron and came to Mahanaim.
30 And Joab came back from fighting Abner: and when he had got all his men together, it was seen that nineteen of David's men, in addition to Asahel, were not with them.
31 But David's men had put to death three hundred and sixty of the men of Benjamin and of Abner's men
32 And they took Asahel's body and put it in the last resting-place of his father in Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men, travelling all night, came to Hebron at dawn.