Abner

55And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

Saul had watched David go out to fight the Philistine. He said to Abner, the leader of his army, "Abner, whose son is this boy?" Abner said, "As surely as you live, my king, I do not know."

56And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.

The king said, "Then find out whose son this young man is."

57And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

David came back from killing the Philistine. He was still holding Goliath's head in his hand. Abner took him and brought him to Saul.

58And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse, from Bethlehem."

5And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him.

Then David went to the place where Saul was camped. He saw where Saul was lying down. Abner son of Ner was there too. Abner was the leader of Saul's army. Saul slept in the middle of the camp. His soldiers slept in a circle all around him.

6Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.

David spoke to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai. Abishai's mother was Zeruiah, and his brother was Joab. David asked, "Who will go down with me into Saul's camp?" Abishai said, "I will go with you."

7So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.

So David and Abishai came to the camp at night. Saul was lying there fast asleep in the middle of the camp. His spear was stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the soldiers were sleeping all around him.

8Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.

Abishai said to David, "Today God has handed your enemy over to you. Let me push the spear through him into the ground. One try is all I will need."

9And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?

But David said, "No, do not kill him. God chose Saul to be king. Anyone who hurts him would be doing wrong."

10David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

David went on, "As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD will deal with Saul. Maybe his time to die will come. Maybe he will go to battle and be killed there.

11The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

But I will never lift my hand against the man God chose as king. Just take the spear by his head and the water jug. Then let us go."

12So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.

So David took the spear and the water jug from beside Saul's head. Then they left. Nobody saw them. Nobody knew. Nobody even woke up. They all stayed asleep, because God had put a deep sleep on them.

13Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them:

Then David crossed over to the other side. He stood on top of a hill far away. A wide space lay between him and the camp.

14And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

David shouted to the soldiers and to Abner son of Ner. He called, "Abner, are you not going to answer me?" Abner shouted back, "Who are you, shouting at the king?"

15And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.

David said to Abner, "You are a brave man, are you not? Nobody in Israel is like you. So why did you not guard the king, your master? Someone came into the camp to kill him.

16This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the LORD liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.

What you did was not good. As surely as the LORD lives, you all should die for this. You did not guard your master, the man God chose as king. Now look for the king's spear and the water jug that were by his head."

8But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;

Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner was the leader of Saul's army. He took Saul's son Ish-bosheth to a town called Mahanaim.

9And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

There he made Ish-bosheth king. He ruled over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all the rest of Israel.

10Ishbosheth Saul’s son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he started to rule Israel. He ruled for two years. But the people of Judah followed David instead.

11And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

David was king in Hebron over Judah for seven years and six months.

12And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

One day Abner son of Ner marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. Ish-bosheth's men went with him.

13And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.

Joab son of Zeruiah and David's men marched out too. The two groups met at the pool of Gibeon. They sat down on opposite sides of the water.

14And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men get up and fight in front of us." Joab said, "Let them get up."

15Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

So they were counted off. Twelve men came for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth. Twelve men came for David.

16And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

Each man grabbed the other man's head. Each one pushed his sword into the other man's side. They all fell down dead together. So that place in Gibeon got the name Helkath-hazzurim.

17And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.

There was a hard battle that day. Abner and the men of Israel lost to David's men.

18And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.

The three sons of Zeruiah were there. They were Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel could run as fast as a wild deer.

19And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.

Asahel chased after Abner. He did not turn left or right. He just kept after Abner.

20Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am.

Abner looked behind him and said, "Is that you, Asahel?" Asahel said, "Yes, it is."

21And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him.

Abner said, "Turn to your right or your left. Go after one of the young men and take his weapons." But Asahel would not stop chasing him.

22And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?

Abner said again, "Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you down? Then how could I look your brother Joab in the face?"

23Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.

But Asahel would not turn away. So Abner shoved the back end of his spear into Asahel's stomach. It came out his back. He fell and died right there. Every man who came to that spot stopped and stood still.

24Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.

But Joab and Abishai kept chasing Abner. The sun was going down when they reached the hill of Ammah. It is near Giah, on the road to the dry land of Gibeon.

25And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill.

The men of Benjamin gathered around Abner. They formed one group. They stood together on top of a hill.

26Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?

Then Abner called out to Joab. He said, "Must we keep killing each other forever? Don't you know this will end in sadness? How long until you tell your men to stop chasing their own brothers?"

27And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.

Joab answered, "As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, my men would have kept chasing their brothers until morning."

28So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.

So Joab blew a horn. All the men stopped. They did not chase Israel anymore, and they did not fight anymore.

29And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.

Abner and his men walked all that night through the flat land. They crossed the Jordan River. They kept going and came to Mahanaim.

30And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel.

Joab came back from chasing Abner. He gathered all his men together. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David's men were missing.

31But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner’s men, so that three hundred and threescore men died.

But David's men had killed three hundred and sixty of Abner's men from Benjamin.

32And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.

They carried Asahel away and buried him in his father's grave in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men walked all night. They reached Hebron as the sun came up.

6And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul.

The two families kept fighting. During that time Abner, the leader of Saul's army, grew more and more powerful among Saul's people.

7And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ishbosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father’s concubine?

Saul had a woman named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. She was one of his wives, but with a lower place in the family. Ishbosheth, Saul's son, asked Abner, "Why did you sleep with my father's wife?"

8Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Am I a dog’s head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman?

Abner became very angry at what Ishbosheth said. He answered, "Am I some worthless dog working for Judah? All this time I have stayed loyal to your father Saul's family, his brothers, and his friends. I have not handed you over to David. And now you blame me about this woman!"

9So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD hath sworn to David, even so I do to him;

Abner said, "May God punish me very badly if I do not help David now. The LORD made a promise to David, and I will help make it come true."

10To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.

"God promised to take the kingdom away from Saul's family. He promised to make David king over Israel and Judah, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south."

11And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he feared him.

Ishbosheth could not say one word back to Abner. He was afraid of him.

12And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee.

Then Abner sent messengers to David with this message: "Who should own this land? Make an agreement with me. I will help you. I will bring all Israel over to your side."

13And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul’s daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

David answered, "Good. I will make an agreement with you. But I ask one thing first. Do not come to see me unless you bring Michal, Saul's daughter, with you." Michal had been David's wife.

14And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul’s son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines.

David also sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul's son. He said, "Give me back my wife Michal. I paid for her with skin cut from a hundred dead Philistines."

15And Ishbosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish.

So Ishbosheth sent men and took Michal away from her husband. Her husband was Phaltiel, the son of Laish.

16And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.

Phaltiel walked behind her, crying all the way to the town of Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go back home." So he went back.

17And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, Ye sought for David in times past to be king over you:

Abner talked with the leaders of Israel. He said, "For a long time now you have wanted David to be your king."

18Now then do it: for the LORD hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies.

"So do it now. The LORD said about David, 'I will use my servant David to save my people Israel. I will save them from the Philistines and from all their enemies.'"

19And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin: and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and that seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin.

Abner also spoke to the people of Benjamin, Saul's own family group. Then he went to Hebron to tell David all that Israel and Benjamin had agreed to do.

20So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.

So Abner came to David at Hebron with twenty men. David made a big meal for Abner and the men with him.

21And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

Abner said to David, "Let me go now. I will gather all Israel to you, my king. They will make an agreement with you. Then you will rule over all you wish." David sent Abner away, and Abner left in peace.

22And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace.

Just then Joab and David's soldiers came back from a raid. Joab was the leader of David's army. They brought back many things they had taken. Abner was not with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away in peace.

23When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace.

When Joab and all his soldiers arrived, someone told him the news. "Abner son of Ner came to the king. The king sent him away, and he left in peace."

24Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

So Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came to you. Why did you send him away? Now he has gotten clean away!"

25Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest.

"You know Abner son of Ner. He came to trick you. He came to learn where you go and everything you do."

26And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not.

Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought Abner back from the well of Sirah. David did not know about it.

27And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.

When Abner came back to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gateway. He acted as if he wanted to talk quietly. There Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and Abner died. Joab did it to pay Abner back for killing his brother Asahel.

28And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:

Later David heard what had happened. He said, "I did not kill Abner son of Ner. The LORD knows my kingdom and I are not guilty of his death, now or ever."

29Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father’s house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.

"Let the blame fall on Joab and on all his father's family. May Joab's family always have someone who is sick and does not get well, or has a bad skin disease. May some need a stick to walk. May some die by the sword. May some go hungry."

30So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner. They did it because Abner had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.