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So I stood over him and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after his falling; I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm; and here, I have brought them to my lord.

David said to him, "Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you by saying, ‘I killed Yahweh's anointed one!'"

O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you or on the fields of grain for offerings, for there the small shield of the mighty was defiled, the small shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.

So then, let your hands be strong and be valiant, for your lord Saul is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me as king over them."

So they came forward and passed by in number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right or to your left; seize for yourself one of the young men, and take his belongings for yourself." But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from him.

So Abner said to Asahel once again, "For your own sake, turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you down to the ground? How could I show my face to Joab your brother?"

Joab said, "As God lives, for if you had not spoken, the people would surely have gone up in the morning, each one of them from following after his brother."

Abner became very angry at the words of Ish-Bosheth, and he said, "Am I the head of a dog which is for Judah today? Do I not continue to show loyal love with the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends? I have not let you fall into the hands of David, yet you have accused me of sin with this woman today.

Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, saying, "Give me my wife Michal whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines."

The word of Abner came to the elders of Israel, saying, "For quite some time you were seeking David as king over you.

Then Abner came to David in Hebron and with him were twenty men. David had prepared a feast for Abner and for the men who were with him.

And look, the servants of David and Joab came from the raid, and they brought much plunder with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate to speak with him in private. Then he struck him in the stomach there and he died, for he had shed the blood of Asahel his brother.

When David heard this afterwards, he said: "I and my kingdom are innocent before Yahweh forever for the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

The king sang a lament for Abner and said, "Should Abner have died the death of a fool?

I am weak today even though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are crueler than I am. May Yahweh pay them back for doing wickedness according to their own wickedness."

Two of the men, commanders of the raiding bands, were for the son of Saul. The name of one was Baanah, and the name of the other was Recab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the descendants of Benjamin; also, Beeroth was regarded as belonging to Benjamin.

For some time, when Saul was king over us, you were leading Israel in and out. Yahweh had said to you, ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be the leader over Israel.'"

He reigned over Judah at Hebron for seven years and six months; and he reigned over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem for thirty-three years.