2 Samuel 2 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Later David asked the Lord for advice. David said, “Should I take control [6] of any of the cities of Judah?”

² So David and his two wives moved to Hebron. (His wives were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow [7] of Nabal from Carmel.)

³ David also brought his men and their families. All of them made their homes in Hebron and the towns nearby.

⁴ The men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed [8] David to be the king of Judah. Then they told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead buried Saul.”

⁵ David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead. These messengers told the men in Jabesh: “The Lord bless you, because you have shown kindness to your lord Saul by burying {his ashes}. [9]

⁶ The Lord will be kind and true to you. And I will also be kind to you.

⁷ Now be strong and brave. Your lord, Saul, is dead. But the family group of Judah has anointed [10] me to be their king.”

⁸ Abner son of Ner was the captain of Saul’s army. Abner took Saul’s son Ish Bosheth to Mahanaim

⁹ and made him king of Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all of Israel. [11]

¹⁰ Ish Bosheth was Saul’s son. Ish Bosheth was 40 years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. But the family group of Judah followed David.

¹¹ David was king in Hebron. David ruled over the family group of Judah for seven years and six months.

¹² Abner son of Ner and the officers of Saul’s son Ish Bosheth left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon.

¹³ Joab, Zeruiah’s son, and the officers of David also went to Gibeon. They met Abner and Ish Bosheth’s officers at the pool of Gibeon. Abner’s group sat on one side of the pool. Joab’s group sat on the other side of the pool.

¹⁴ Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young soldiers get up and have a contest here.”

¹⁵ So the young soldiers got up. The two groups counted their men for the contest. They chose twelve men from the family group of Benjamin to fight for Saul’s son Ish Bosheth. And they chose twelve men from David’s officers.

¹⁶ Each of the men grabbed his opponent’s head and stabbed him in the side with his sword, and then they fell down together. That is why the place is called “The Field of the Sharp Knives.” [12] The place is in Gibeon.

¹⁷ That contest became a terrible battle and David’s officers defeated Abner and the Israelites that day.

¹⁸ Zeruiah had three sons, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a fast runner. He was as fast as a wild deer.

¹⁹ Asahel ran straight toward Abner and began chasing him.

²⁰ Abner looked back and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?”

²¹ {Abner didn’t want to hurt Asahel.} So Abner said to Asahel, “Stop chasing me—go after one of the young soldiers. You could easily take his armor [13] for yourself.” But Asahel refused to stop chasing Abner.

²² Abner again said to Asahel, “Stop chasing me or I will have to kill you. Then I won’t be able to look your brother Joab in the face again.”

²³ But Asahel refused to stop chasing Abner. So Abner used the back end of his spear and pushed it into Asahel’s stomach. The spear went {deep into Asahel’s stomach and came} out of his back. Asahel died right there.

²⁴ But Joab and Abishai [14] continued chasing Abner. The sun was just going down when they came to Ammah Hill. (Ammah Hill is in front of Giah on the way to Gibeon Desert.)

²⁵ The men from the family group of Benjamin gathered around Abner at the top of the hill.

²⁶ Abner shouted to Joab and said, “Must we fight and kill each other forever? Surely you know that this will only end in sadness. Tell the people to stop chasing their own brothers.”

²⁷ Then Joab said, “It is a good thing you said that. As sure as God is alive, if you had not said something, then people would still be chasing their brothers in the morning.”

²⁸ So Joab blew a trumpet, and his people stopped chasing the Israelites. They did not try to fight the Israelites any more.

²⁹ Abner and his men marched all night through the Jordan Valley. They crossed the Jordan River and marched all day until they came to Mahanaim.

³⁰ Joab stopped chasing Abner and went back. Joab had gathered his men and learned that 19 of David’s officers were missing, including Asahel.

³¹ But David’s officers had killed 360 of Abner’s men from the family group of Benjamin.

³² David’s officers took Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father at Bethlehem.