Old/New Testament

3 Therefore a long strife was made betwixt the house of David and the house of Saul; and David profited and ever[more] was stronger than himself, in comparison of time passed, for his power increased ever, but the house of Saul decreased each day. (And so for a long time there was strife between the house of David and the house of Saul; and David grew in strength, that is, as more time that passed, the more his power increased, but the house of Saul grew ever weaker.)

² And sons were born to David in Hebron; and his first begotten son was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel;

³ and after him was Chileab, of Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel; and the third was Absalom, the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur;

⁴ and the fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith; and the fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital;

⁵ and the sixth was Ithream, of Eglah, the wife of David. These (sons) were born to David in Hebron.

⁶ Therefore when battle was betwixt the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner, the son of Ner, governed the house of Saul.

⁷ And to Saul was a concubine, that is, a secondary wife, Rizpah by name, the daughter of Aiah; and Abner entered [in] to her. And Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why hast thou entered [in] to the concubine of my father?

⁸ And Abner was wroth greatly for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Whether I am the head of a dog against Judah today, and I have done mercy on the house of Saul, thy father, and on his brethren, and neighbours, and I betook not thee into the hands of David, and (yet) thou hast sought in me that, that thou shouldest reprove for a woman today? (And Abner was greatly angered by Ishbosheth’s words, and said, Am I the head of a dog, that is, a traitor, and do I serve Judah today? have I not shown mercy, or loyalty, to the house of Saul, thy father, and to his brothers, and to his neighbours? I did not deliver thee into the hands of David, and yet today thou hast sought that for which thou wouldest reprove me for, yea, for but a woman!)

⁹ God do these things to Abner, and add these things to him, no but as the Lord swore to David, so I do with him (so I shall do for him),

¹⁰ that the realm be translated from the house of Saul (that the kingdom be transferred from the house of Saul), and (that) the throne of David be raised on Israel and on Judah, from Dan till to Beersheba.

¹¹ And Ishbosheth might not answer anything to Abner, for he dreaded Abner (for he feared Abner).

¹² Therefore Abner sent messengers to David, and they said for him, Whose is the land? and that the messengers should (also) speak thus, Make thou friendships with me, and mine hand shall be with thee, and I shall bring (over) all Israel to thee.

¹³ And David said, Best, I shall make friendships with thee; but I ask of thee one thing, and say, Thou shalt not see my face, before that thou bring Michal, the daughter of Saul, and so thou shalt come, and shalt see me. (And David answered, Very well, I shall be friends with thee; but I require one thing from thee, and that is, that thou shalt not see my face, until thou bring Saul’s daughter Michal to me; only then shalt thou come, and see me.)

¹⁴ Therefore David sent messengers to Ishbosheth (And David also sent messengers to Ishbosheth), the son of Saul, and said, Yield thou my wife Michal, whom I espoused to me for an hundred prepuces of Philistines.

¹⁵ Therefore Ishbosheth sent, and took her from her husband, Phaltiel, the son of Laish; (And so Ishbosheth sent some men, and took her away from her husband, Phaltiel, the son of Laish;)

¹⁶ and her husband followed her, and wept till to Bahurim. And Abner said to him, Go thou, and turn again; and he turned again. (and her husband followed her, and wept all the way to Bahurim. But Abner said to him, Go thou back home! and so he went home.)

¹⁷ Also Abner brought in a word to the elder men of Israel, and said, Both yesterday and the third day ago ye sought David, that he should reign upon you.

¹⁸ Now therefore do ye; for the Lord spake to David, and said, In the hand of my servant David I shall save my people Israel from the hand of Philistines, and of all his enemies. (And so now do ye it; for the Lord spoke to David, and said, By my servant David I shall save my people Israel from the hands of the Philistines, and from all their enemies.)

¹⁹ And also Abner spake to Benjamin; and he went, that he should speak to David, in Hebron, (of) all things that pleased Israel and all Benjamin. (And Abner also spoke to the Benjaminites; and then he went to speak to David in Hebron, about all that the Israelites and the Benjaminites had agreed to do.)

²⁰ And he came to David, in Hebron, with twenty men. And David made a feast to Abner, and to the men that came with him (And David made a feast for Abner, and the men who came with him).

²¹ And Abner said to David, I shall rise up, that I gather all Israel to thee, my lord the king, and that I make (a) bond of peace with thee, and that thou reign on all, as thy soul desireth. Therefore when David had led forth Abner, and he had gone in peace, (And Abner said to David, I shall rise up, and gather all Israel to thee, my lord the king, and they shall make a covenant with thee, and thou shalt reign upon all of them, as thy soul desireth. And after David had let Abner go away, with a guarantee of surety, or of safety,)

²² anon the servants of David and Joab came with a full great prey, when the thieves were slain; and Abner was not then with David, in Hebron, for David had let him go, and he went forth in peace. (shortly thereafter David’s men and Joab came back from a raid, with a great deal of prey; and Abner was then not with David, in Hebron, for David had let him go away, with a guarantee of safety.)

²³ And Joab, and the hosts that were with him, came afterward; therefore it was told to Joab of tellers, (saying,) Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and the king let go him, and he went forth in peace. (And so Joab, and the men who were with him, came shortly thereafter; and people said to Joab, Abner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and the king let him go away, with a guarantee of safety.)

²⁴ And Joab entered to the king, and said, What hast thou done? Lo! Abner came to thee; why lettest go thou him (why hast thou let him go), and he went, and departed from thee?

²⁵ Knowest thou not (that) Abner, the son of Ner, for hereto he came to thee, that he should deceive thee, and that he should know thy going out and thine entering, and should know all things which thou doest? (Thou must know that Abner, the son of Ner, came to thee so that he could deceive thee, and learn thy going out and thy coming in, and so know all the things that thou doest.)

²⁶ Therefore Joab went out from David, and sent messengers after Abner; and led him again from the cistern of Sirah (and they brought him back from the Well of Sirah), while David knew not.

²⁷ And when Abner had come again into Hebron, Joab led him asides half to the middle of the gate, (as if) that he should speak to him in guile; and he smote Abner there in the share-bone, and he was dead, into vengeance of the blood of his brother Asahel (and Joab struck, or stabbed, Abner in the belly, and he died there, in revenge for killing Joab’s brother Asahel).

²⁸ That when David had heard this thing done, he said, I am clean, and my realm, with God into without end from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner; (And when David had heard that this thing was done, he said, I and my kingdom, be clean with God forevermore, of the blood, or of the murder, of Abner, the son of Ner;)

²⁹ and come it on the head of Joab, and upon all the house of his father; and fail there not from the house of Joab a man suffering flowing of seed, and a leprous man, (and a man) holding a spindle, and a man falling by sword, and (a man) having need to bread. (yea, let it come upon Joab’s head, and upon all his father’s family; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab a man suffering the flowing out of his seed, or a leprous man, or a man holding a spindle, or a man falling by the sword, or a man having need of bread.)

³⁰ Therefore Joab, and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner, for he had slain Asahel, their brother (for he had killed their brother Asahel), in Gibeon, in battle.

³¹ And David said to Joab, and to all the people that was with him, Rend ye your clothes, and be ye gird with sackcloths, and bewail ye before the hearses, either dirge, of Abner. Forsooth king David followed the bier. (And David said to Joab, and to all the people who were with him, Tear ye your clothes, and be ye gird with sackcloths, and bewail ye the dirge for Abner. And King David himself followed the bier.)

³² And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David raised (up) his voice, and wept on the burial of Abner; and certainly all the people wept.

³³ And the king bewailed, and bemourned Abner, and said, Abner, thou diedest not as dreadful men, either cowards, be wont to die (Abner, thou hast not died like fearful men, or like cowards, be wont to die).

³⁴ Thine hands were not bound, and thy feet were not grieved with stocks, but thou hast fallen down, as men be wont to fall before the sons of wickedness. And all the people doubled together, and wept on him. (Thy hands were not bound, and thy feet were not put in the stocks, but thou hast fallen, like men be wont to fall before the sons of wickedness. And all the people wept again for him.)

³⁵ And when all the multitude came to take meat with David, while the day was yet clear, David swore, and said, God do to me these things, and add these things too, if I shall taste bread, either any other thing, before the going down of the sun.

³⁶ And all the people heard this; and all things which the king did in the sight of all the people pleased them;

³⁷ and all the common people and all Israel knew in that day, that it was not done of the king (that it was not done by the king), that Abner, the son of Ner, was slain.

³⁸ Also the king said to his servants, Whether ye know not, that the prince and the greatest (man) hath fallen down today in Israel?

³⁹ And I am yet tender, and anointed king; and these sons of Zeruiah be (too) hard to me; the Lord yield to him that doeth evil after his (own) malice. (And I am yet weak, though anointed the king; and these sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me; may the Lord yield to him who doeth evil after his own malice.)

4 And Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, heard that Abner had fallen down in Hebron; and his hands were discomforted, and all Israel was troubled. (And Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, heard that Abner had been killed in Hebron; and his hands were enfeebled, that is, he was afraid, and all Israel was troubled.)

² And two men, princes of (raiding) companies, were to the son of Saul; name to the one was Baanah, and name to the tother was Rechab, the sons of Rimmon (the) Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin; for also Beeroth is areckoned in Benjamin. (And two men, leaders of raiding parties, were officers for Saul’s son; one was named Baanah, and the other was named Rechab; they were the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin, for Beeroth is reckoned as part of Benjamin.)

³ And men of Beeroth fled into Gittaim; and they were comelings there till to that time. (And the Beerothites had fled to Gittaim; and they had lived there until that time.)

⁴ And a son feeble in his feet was to Jonathan, the son of Saul; and he was five years eld, when the messenger came from Saul and Jonathan, from Jezreel, telling that they were dead (and he was five years old, when a message came from Jezreel about Saul and Jonathan, saying that they were dead). Therefore his nurse took him, and fled; and when she hasted to flee, she felled down, and the child was made lame; and the name of the child was Mephibosheth.

⁵ Therefore Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, came, and entered in the hot (of the) day into the house of Ishbosheth, that slept upon his bed at midday; and the woman that kept the doors of the house, (who had been) purging wheat, (now also) slept fast. (And so Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, came, and in the heat of the day entered into Ishbosheth’s house, while he slept on his bed at midday; and the woman who kept the doors of the house, had been purging wheat, but now she was also asleep.)

⁶ And they came till to the midst of the house, and took wheat; and Rechab, and Baanah, his brother, smote Ishbosheth in the share-bone, and fled. (And they came into the midst of the house, carrying wheat; and Rechab, and his brother Baanah, struck, or stabbed, Ishbosheth in the belly, and then fled.)

⁷ Soothly when they had entered into the house, he slept on his bed in a (bed-)closet; and they smited and killed him; and when they had taken [off] his head, they went by the way of desert in all that night. (Yea, when they entered into the house, he slept on his bed in the bed-chamber; and they struck, or stabbed, him and killed him; and when they had cut off his head, they left, and went by the way of the wilderness all that night.)

⁸ And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David, in Hebron, and they said to the king, Lo! the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, that sought thy life; and the Lord hath given today to our lord the king vengeance of Saul, and of his seed (yea, today the Lord hath avenged our lord the king upon Saul, and upon his descendants, or his family).

⁹ And David answered to Rechab, and Baanah, his brother, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, and said to them, The Lord liveth, that hath delivered my life from all anguish (As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my life from all anguish);

¹⁰ for I held him that told to me, and said, Saul is dead, which man guessed himself to tell prosperities, and I killed him in Ziklag, to whom (he thought) it behooved me (to) give meed for (his) message; (for I took hold of him who told me, and said, Saul is dead, which man thought that he told good news, and I killed him in Ziklag, yea, he who thought it behooved me to give him a reward for his message;)

¹¹ how much more now, when wicked men have slain a guiltless man in his house upon his bed, shall I not seek his blood of your hand, and shall not I do away you from the earth? (how much more now, when you wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house on his own bed, will I not avenge his blood upon you, and shall I not do you away from the face of the earth?)

¹² Therefore David commanded to his servants, and they killed them; and they cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them over the cistern in Hebron (and hung them up near the pool in Hebron). Forsooth they took the head of Ishbosheth, and they buried it in the sepulchre of Abner, in Hebron.

5 And all the lineages of Israel came to David, in Hebron, and said, Lo! we be thy bone and thy flesh. (And all the tribes of Israel came to David, in Hebron, and said, Lo! we be thy flesh and blood.)

² But also yesterday and the third day ago, when Saul was king upon us, thou leddest out, and leddest again Israel; forsooth the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be duke upon Israel. (And yesterday and the third day ago, when Saul was king upon us, thou leddest out the people Israel, and leddest them in again; and the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be the leader of Israel.)

³ Also and the elder men of Israel came to the king, into Hebron; and king David smote with them (a) bond of peace in Hebron, before the Lord; and they anointed David into king upon Israel. (And the elders of Israel came to the king in Hebron; and King David struck a covenant with them in Hebron, before the Lord; and they anointed David king upon Israel.)

⁴ David was a son of thirty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years(.)

⁵ in Hebron; he reigned upon Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years upon all Israel and Judah. (In Hebron, he reigned seven years and six months upon Judah; and in Jerusalem, he reigned thirty-three years upon all Israel and Judah.)

⁶ And the king went, and all [the] men that were with him, into Jerusalem, to Jebusites, the dweller(s) of the land. And it was said of them to David, Thou shalt not enter hither, no but thou do away blind men and lame, saying, David shall not enter hither. (And the king, and all the men who were with him, went to Jerusalem, unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. And they said to David, Thou shalt not come in here until thou do away all the blind and the crippled, that is to say, Thou, David, shalt never come in here.)

⁷ Forsooth David took the tower of Zion; this is the city of David. (But David captured the stronghold, or the fortress, of Zion; this is known as the City of David.)

⁸ For David had purposed in that day to have given meed to him, that had smitten Jebusites, and that had touched the gutters of the house roofs, and that had taken away lame men and blind, hating the life of David. Therefore it is said in common speech, A blind man and a lame shall not enter into the temple. (For David had put forth a reward that day, to anyone who struck down the Jebusites, yea, up to the gutters of the housetops, and who did away even the crippled and the blind, yea, any and all who hated the life of David. And so it is said in common speech, No one blind or crippled shall enter into the Temple.)

⁹ And David dwelled in the tower, and called it the city of David; and he builded by compass from Millo, and within. (And David lived in the stronghold, and called it the City of David; and he built all around from Millo, inwards.)

¹⁰ And he entered profiting, and increasing; and the Lord God of hosts was with him.

¹¹ Also Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and craftsmen of wood, and craftsmen of stones to (make) walls; and they builded the house of David.

¹² And David knew, that the Lord had confirmed him king upon Israel, and that he had enhanced his realm upon his people Israel (and that he had raised up his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel).

¹³ Therefore David took yet (more) concubines, and wives of (the inhabitants of) Jerusalem, after that he came from Hebron; and also other sons and daughters were born to David.

¹⁴ And these be the names of them that were born to him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

¹⁵ and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

¹⁶ and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

¹⁷ Then the Philistines heard, that they had anointed David king upon Israel, and all the Philistines went up to seek David. And when David had heard this, he went down into a stronghold.

¹⁸ And the Philistines came, and they were spread abroad in the valley of Rephaim. (And the Philistines came, and they were spread all over the Rephaim Valley.)

¹⁹ And David counselled with the Lord, and said, Whether I shall go up to Philistines, and whether thou shalt give them in mine hand? And the Lord said to David, Go thou up, for I shall betake the Philistines, and I shall give them in thine hand. (And David counselled with the Lord, and said, Shall I go up to the Philistines? and shalt thou give them into my hands? And the Lord said to David, Go thou up, for I shall deliver the Philistines into thy hands.)

²⁰ Therefore David came into Baalperazim, and smote them there (and he struck them there), and said, The Lord hath parted mine enemies before me, as waters be parted. Therefore the name of that place was called Baalperazim, that is, The Field, either Plain, of Parting.

²¹ And they left there their sculptures, (or their images,) which David burnt, and his men. (And they left their idols there, which David and his men burned to ashes.)

²² And [the] Philistines added yet, that they should ascend, and they were spread abroad in the valley of Rephaim. (And the Philistines attacked again, and they were spread all over the Rephaim Valley.)

²³ And David counselled with the Lord, and said, Whether I shall go up against the Philistines, and whether thou shalt betake them into mine hands? (And David counselled with the Lord, and said, Shall I go up against the Philistines, and shalt thou deliver them into my hands?) And the Lord answered, Thou shalt not go up against them, but compass thou them behind their back, and (then) thou shalt come to them on the contrary side of the pear trees.

²⁴ And when thou shalt hear the sound of (a) cry going in the top(s) of (the) pear trees, then thou shalt begin (the) battle; for then the Lord shall go out before thy face, that he smite the tents of Philistines (for then the Lord shall go out before thee, and strike down the host, or the army, of the Philistines).

²⁵ Therefore David did as the Lord commanded to him; and he smote the Philistines from Geba till they came to Gazer.

²⁵ And much people went with him [Soothly many companies went with him]; and he turned, and said to them,

²⁶ If any man cometh to me [If any man come to me], and hateth not his father, and mother, and wife, and sons, and brethren, and sisters, and yet [forsooth] his own life, he may not be my disciple.

²⁷ And he that beareth not his cross, and cometh after me, may not be my disciple.

²⁸ For who of you willing to build a tower, whether he sit not first/whether he first sitteth not, and counteth the expenses that be needful, if he have to perform?

²⁹ Lest after that he hath set the foundament [Lest after he hath put the foundament], and be not able to perform, all that see, begin to scorn him,

³⁰ and say [saying], For this man began to build, and might not make an end.

³¹ Or what king that will go to do a battle against another king, whether he sitteth not first, and bethinketh, if he may with ten thousand go to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?^[a]

³² [Or] Else yet while he is afar, he sendeth a messenger, and prayeth those things that be of peace.

³³ So therefore each of you, that forsaketh not all things that he hath [that renounceth not, or forsaketh not, all things that he wieldeth], may not be my disciple.

³⁴ Salt is good; but if salt [shall] vanish, in what thing shall it be savoured?

³⁵ Neither in earth, nor in [the] dunghill it is profitable, but it shall be cast out. He that hath ears of hearing, hear he.