2 Samuel 4-5

Contemporary English Version

Ishbosheth Is Killed

4 Ishbosheth^[a] felt like giving up after he heard that Abner had died in Hebron. Everyone in Israel was terrified.

² Ishbosheth had put the two brothers Baanah and Rechab in charge of the soldiers who raided enemy villages. Rimmon was their father, and they were from the town of Beeroth, which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. ³ The people who used to live in Beeroth had run away to Gittaim, and they still live^[b] there.

^4 (A) Saul's son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth,^[c] who had not been able to walk since he was five years old. It happened when someone from Jezreel told his nurse that Saul and Jonathan had died.^[d] She hurried off with the boy in her arms, but he fell and injured his legs.

⁵ One day about noon, Rechab and Baanah went to Ishbosheth's house. It was a hot day, and he was resting ^6-7 in his bedroom. The two brothers went into the house, pretending to get some flour. But once they were inside, they stabbed Ishbosheth in the stomach and killed him. Then they cut off his head and took it with them.

Rechab and Baanah walked through the Jordan River valley all night long. ⁸ Finally they turned west and went to Hebron. They went in to see David and told him, “Your Majesty, here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you! The Lord has let you get even with Saul and his family.”

⁹ David answered:

I swear that only the Lord rescues me when I'm in trouble! ^10 (B) When a man came to Ziklag and told me that Saul was dead, he thought he deserved a reward for bringing good news. But I grabbed him and killed him.

¹¹ You evil men have done something much worse than he did. You've killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed. I'll make you pay for that. I'll wipe you from the face of the earth!

¹² Then David said to his troops, “Kill these two brothers! Cut off their hands and feet and hang their bodies by the pool in Hebron. But bury Ishbosheth's head in Abner's tomb near Hebron.” And they did.

David Becomes King of Israel

(1 Chronicles 11.1-3)

5 Israel's leaders met with David at Hebron and said, “We are your relatives. ² Even when Saul was king, you led our nation in battle. And the Lord promised that someday you would rule Israel and take care of us like a shepherd.”

³ During the meeting, David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the Lord to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now the king of Israel.

^4 (C) David was 30 years old when he became king, and he ruled for 40 years. ⁵ He lived in Hebron for the first seven and a half years and ruled only Judah. Then he moved to Jerusalem, where he ruled both Israel and Judah for 33 years.

How David Captured Jerusalem

(1 Chronicles 11.4-9; 14.1,2)

^6 (D) The Jebusites lived in Jerusalem, and David led his army there to attack them. The Jebusites did not think he could get in, so they told him, “You can't get in here! We could keep you out, even if we couldn't see or walk!”

^7-9 David told his troops, “You will have to go up through the water tunnel to get those Jebusites. I hate people like them^[e] who can't walk or see.”

That's why there is still a rule that says, “Only people who can walk and see are allowed in the temple.”^[f]

David captured the fortress on Mount Zion, then he moved there and named it David's City. He had the city rebuilt, starting with the landfill to the east. ¹⁰ David became a great and strong ruler, because the Lord All-Powerful was on his side.

¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre sent some officials to David. Carpenters and stone workers came with them, and they brought cedar logs so they could build David a palace.

¹² David knew that the Lord had made him king of Israel and that he had made him a powerful ruler for the good of his people.

David's Sons Born in Jerusalem

(1 Chronicles 14.3-7)

¹³ After David left Hebron and moved to Jerusalem, he married many women^[g] from Jerusalem,^[h] and he had a lot of children. ¹⁴ His sons who were born there were Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada,^[i] and Eliphelet.

David Fights the Philistines

(1 Chronicles 14.8-17)

¹⁷ The Philistines heard that David was now king of Israel, and they came into the hill country to try and capture him. But David found out and went into his fortress.^{[j] 18} So the Philistines camped in Rephaim Valley.^[k]

¹⁹ David asked the Lord, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you let me win?”

The Lord told David, “Attack! I will let you win.”

²⁰ David attacked the Philistines and defeated them. Then he said, “I watched the Lord break through my enemies like a mighty flood.” So he named the place “The Lord Broke Through.”^{[l] 21} David and his troops also carried away the idols that the Philistines had left behind.

²² Some time later, the Philistines came back into the hill country and camped in Rephaim Valley. ²³ David asked the Lord what he should do, and the Lord answered:

Don't attack them from the front. Circle around behind and attack from among the balsam^[m] trees. ²⁴ Wait until you hear a sound in the treetops like marching troops. Then attack quickly! That sound will mean I have marched out ahead of you to fight the Philistine army.

²⁵ David obeyed the Lord and defeated the Philistines. He even chased them all the way from Geba to the entrance to Gezer.