¹³ And he said, “Good! I will make a covenant with you, only I require one thing of you, ^[a]namely, that ^(A)you shall not see my face unless you ^(B)first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see ^[b]me.” ¹⁴ So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed ^(C)for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵ Ish-bosheth sent men and ^[c]had her taken from her husband, from ^[d]Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶ And her husband went with her, weeping as he went, ^[e]following her as far as ^(D)Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” So he returned.

¹⁷ Now Abner had a ^[f]consultation with ^(E)the elders of Israel, saying, “In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you. ¹⁸ Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken regarding David, saying, ‘^(F)By the hand of My servant David ^[g]I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hands of all their enemies.’” ¹⁹ Abner also spoke ^[h]to Benjamin; and in addition Abner went to speak ^[i]to David in Hebron everything that seemed good to Israel and to ^(G)the entire house of Benjamin.

²⁰ Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David held a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ Abner said to David, “Let me set out and go and ^(H)gather all Israel to my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant with you, and that ^(I)you may be king over all that your soul desires.” So David let Abner go, and he went in peace.

²² And behold, ^(J)the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought a large amount of plunder with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, since he had let him go, and he had gone in peace. ²³ When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they informed Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go on his way, and he has gone in peace.” ²⁴ Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you let him go, so that he is already gone? ²⁵ You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to gain your confidence, and to learn of ^(K)your ^[j]going out and coming in and to find out everything that you are doing.”

Joab Murders Abner

²⁶ When Joab left David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know about it. ²⁷ So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there ^(L)he struck him in the belly, so that he died on account of the blood of his brother Asahel. ²⁸ Afterward, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ^29 (M)May it turn upon the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and may there not be eliminated from the house of Joab ^(N)someone who suffers a discharge, or has leprosy, or ^[k]holds the spindle, or falls by the sword, or lacks bread.” ³⁰ So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner ^(O)because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

David Mourns Abner

³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “^(P)Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier. ³² And they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king raised his voice and wept at ^(Q)the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. ³³ And ^(R)the king sang a song of mourning for Abner and said,

And all the people wept over him again. ³⁵ Then all the people came ^(S)to provide ^[m]food for David in his distress while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, “^(T)May God do so to me, and more so, if I taste bread or anything else ^(U)before the sun goes down.” ³⁶ Now all the people took note of David’s vow, and it ^[n]pleased them, just as everything that the king did ^[o]pleased all the people. ³⁷ So all the people and all Israel understood on that day that it had not been the desire of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death. ³⁸ Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a leader and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? ³⁹ And I am ^(V)weak today, though anointed king; and these men, ^(W)the sons of Zeruiah, are too difficult for me. ^(X)May the Lord repay the evildoer in proportion to his evil.”

¹⁶ Then it happened, as the ark of the Lord was coming into the city of David, that ^(A)Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she was contemptuous of him in her heart.