¹And the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was long, but David became stronger and stronger, whereas Saul's house became weaker and weaker. ²And various sons were born to David in Hebron, and his eldest was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess. ³And his second eldest was Chilab, by Abigail the former wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And the third was Absalom the son of Maachah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur. ⁴And the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith, and the fifth was Shephatiah the son of Abital. ⁵And the sixth was Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron. ⁶Then it came to pass, while the war was going on being between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner was becoming stronger in the house of Saul. ⁷Now Saul had had a concubine, and her name was Rizpah the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?” ⁸And Abner became very angry about Ish-Bosheth's words, and he said, “Am I a dog's head, who is for Judah? Today I will show kindness to the house of Saul your father, towards his brothers and towards his friends, and I won't deliver you up into the hand of David, although you have charged me with an iniquity against the woman today. ⁹May God so do to Abner if I am guilty, and may he so add to him, for as the Lord has sworn to David, so I will do for him, ¹⁰in transferring the kingdom from the house of Saul and in setting up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan's territory up to Beersheba.” ¹¹And he could not answer Abner a word any more, for fear of him. ¹²And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf to say, “Whose is the land?” and to say, “Make your covenant with me, and you will see that my hand is with you, to round up the whole of Israel to you.” ¹³And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you, but I will ask one thing of you, namely, ‘You shall not see my face unless and until you bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.’ ” ¹⁴So David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth, Saul's son, to say, “Give me my wife Michal whom I betrothed to myself for one hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵And Ish-Bosheth sent men, and he had her taken from her husband Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶And her husband went with her, weeping as he went, following her to Bahurim. But Abner said to him, “Depart; go back.” So he went back. ¹⁷And Abner's position was under consideration with the elders of Israel as he had said, “In times past you were requesting David as king over you. ¹⁸So now, act, for the Lord has spoken to David and said, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’ ” ¹⁹And Abner also spoke privately to the tribe of Benjamin, and Abner also went to speak privately to David in Hebron everything that was right in the sight of Israel and in the sight of the whole house of Benjamin. ²⁰So Abner came to David in Hebron, and twenty men were with him, and David held a feast for Abner and for the men who were with him. ²¹And Abner said to David, “Let me get up and go and gather the whole of Israel to my lord the king, and they will make a covenant with you, and you will reign over everyone your heart desires.” And David let Abner go, and he went in peace. ²²Then along came the servants of David and Joab from the troop, and they brought much spoil with them, and Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had let him go, and he had gone in peace. ²³Then when Joab and the whole army which was with him had arrived, they spoke to Joab and said, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he let him go, and he went in peace.” ²⁴Then Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have let him go, and he has simply gone? ²⁵You know Abner the son of Ner – that he came to deceive you and to get to know your comings and goings and to get to know everything you are doing.” ²⁶And Joab left David's company, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah, without David knowing. ²⁷So Abner returned to Hebron, and Joab took him aside inside the gate to speak to him quietly, and he struck him there in the abdomen, and he died for the blood of Asahel Joab's brother. ²⁸And afterwards, David heard about it, and he said, “I and my kingdom are age-abidingly innocent before the Lord of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ²⁹May it fall on Joab's head and on all his father's house, and may there not fail to be one with a pathological discharge, or a leper, or one holding a staff, or falling by the sword, or lacking bread in the house of Joab.” ³⁰So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed Asahel their brother in Gibeon in the war. ³¹And David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and gird on sackcloth, and mourn for Abner.” And King David walked behind the funeral bier. ³²And they buried Abner in Hebron, and the king raised his voice and wept at Abner's grave, and all the people wept. ³³So the king lamented over Abner, and he said,

“Did Abner die as a fool dies?

³⁴Your hands were not bound,

And your feet were not fettered.

You fell as one falls before the iniquitous.”

And all the people wept for him again. ³⁵And all the people came to give David bread while it was still day, but David swore and said, “May God so do to me and more besides if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets.” ³⁶And all the people showed respect, and it was right in their eyes. Everything that the king did was right in the eyes of all the people. ³⁷And all the people and all Israel knew on that day that it was not an initiative from the king to kill Abner the son of Ner. ³⁸And the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a commander and a great man has fallen on this day in Israel? ³⁹And I am faint today, although anointed king, and these men – the sons of Zeruiah – are too harsh for me. May the Lord requite him who commits wickedness according to his wickedness.”