4And the men of Judah came there, and anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. And they told David, “The men of Jabesh-gilead were those who buried Saul”. 5And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “Blessed be you of the LORD, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him. 6And now may the LORD show kindness and truth to you; and I also will show you kindness, because you have done this thing. 7Now, then, be strong, and brave; for your leader, Saul, is dead, and the tribe of Judah has anointed me king over them”.

8But Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, and brought him over to Mahanaim; 9And made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 10Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the tribe of Judah followed David. 11And the time that David was king over Judah in Hebron was seven years and six months.

12And Abner, the son of Ner, and the followers of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the followers of David, went out, and they met by the pool of Gibeon; and sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise, and fight, hand to hand, before us”. And Joab said, “Let them arise”. 15Then there arose and went over twelve of Benjamin, for Ish-bosheth, son of Saul, and twelve of David. 16And each one caught his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent 's side; so they all fell down together; therefore that place was called “Helkath-hazzurim” (the field of sharp edges), which is in Gibeon. 17And there was a very fierce battle that day; and Abner’s men were defeated by the men of David.

18And there were three sons of Zeruiah there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild roe. 19And Asahel pursued Abner; and he turned neither to the right nor to the left from following Abner. 20Then Abner looked behind him, and said, “Are you Asahel?” And he answered, “I am”. 21And Abner said, “Turn aside to your right hand or your left, and take the armor of one of the young men”. But Asahel would not stop pursuing him. 22And Abner said again to him, “Turn aside from following me; why should I strike you to the ground? How then should I face Joab, your brother?” 23But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner, with the back end of the spear, struck him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down and died in that place; and as others came to the place where Asahel died, they stood still.

24Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner; and the sun went down when they had come to the hill of Ammah, that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and formed one troop, and stood on the top of a hill. 26Then Abner called to Joab, and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that this will end in bitterness? How long shall it be then, before you tell your people to return from following their brethren?” 27And Joab said, “As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely the people would have continued pursuing his brother until morning”. 28So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood stopped, and no longer pursued Israel, nor fought they any more.

29And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim. 30And Joab returned from following Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, of David's servants there lacked nineteen men and Asahel. 31But the servants of David had killed three hundred sixty of Benjamin, Abner's men. 32And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulcher of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.