David ta ningi ohamba yaJuda, ndele Isboset ohamba yaIsrael
1 Ndele David okwa pula kOmwene ndele ta ti: “Nandi ye moshilando shimwe shomuJuda?” NOmwene okwe mu nyamukula: “Inda.” Opo nee David ta pula: “Ondi nokuya peni?” Ndele Ye ta nyamukula: “KuHebron.” 2 Ndele David okwa ya ko, nosho yo ovalikadi vaye vavali, Ahinoam wokuJisreel naAbigail, omwalikadi waNabal, Omukarmel. 3 Ndele David okwa twala ko yo ovalumenhu ava va li puye, keshe umwe neumbo laye, ndele va tula moilando yopuHebron. 4 Opo nee ovalumenhu Ovajuda ve uya ndele va vaeka David a ninge ohamba yepata laJuda. Eshi va shiivifila David nokutya, ovalumenhu ovaJabes muGilead va paka Saul, 5 David okwa tuma ovatumwa kuJabes shomuGilead ve va lombwele: “Omwene ne mu nangeke noupuna, eshi mwa fila onghenda omwene weni ndele mwe mu paka. 6 Omwene ne mu file onghenda noku mu diinina, naame mwene yo handi mu ningile ouwa, eshi mwa ninga oshinima eshi. 7 Ndele paife kaleni mwa nyatipala ovalumenhweelela. Nande omwene weni Saul a fya, epata laJuda la vaeka nge ndi ninge ohamba yalo.”
8 Ndelenee Abner yaNer, ondjai yaSaul, okwa kufa Isboset yaSaul ndele e mu twala kuMahanaim, 9 nokwe mu ninga ohamba yaGilead noyOvaasuri noyaJisreel noyaEfraim noyaBenjamin noyOvaisraeli aveshe. 10 Omido daIsboset yaSaul, eshi a ninga ohamba yaIsrael, da li omilongo nhee, ndele a pangela omido mbali. Epata laJuda alike la shikula David. 11 Nomido odo David okwa li ohamba muHebron nokupangela epata laJuda, oda li di fike pomido heyali neehani hamano.
Ovaisraeli nOvajuda tave lipilukile
12 Ndele Abner yaNer pamwe novapiya vaIsboset yaSaul va dja kuMahanaim va ya kuGibeon. 13 Joab yaSeruja novapiya vaDavid va fikama yo. Ndele vo eshi va shakena kumwe pomufima waGibeon, ova kala omutumba kombinga nombinga yomufima, va taalelafana. 14 Ndele Abner ta ti kuJoab: Ovamati nava fikame va danauke olwoodi moipafi yetu. Ndele Joab ta ti: Nava fikame! 15 Opo nee va fikama. Ndele muBenjamin mwa fikama mwa dja omulongo navavali kombinga yaIsboset yaSaul. Ndele movapiya vaDavid omulongo navavali. 16 Ndelenee vo ova kwatafana komitwe ndele va twaafana nomaongamukonda meemhati. Ndele vo aveshe va fila shimwe. Onghee hano onhele oyo tai ifanwa Onhele yEongamukonda muGibeon.
Asahel ta dipawa kuAbner
17 Ndele mefiku tuu olo olwoodi la ninga lipyu unene, ndelenee Abner novalumenhu Ovaisraeli va tewa kovapiya vaDavid. 18 Ndele pa li ovana ovamati vatatu vaSeruja: Joab naAbisai naAsahel. Ndele Asahel okwa li e nonhapo ngaashi omenye yomofuka. 19 Ndele Asahel okwa taataa Abner, ina henukila kolulyo ile kolumosho mokushikula Abner. 20 Opo nee Abner ta keuka ndele ta ti: “Oove tuu Asahel?” Ndele ta nyamukula: “Aame ou.” 21 Ndele Abner ta ti kuye: “Yapukila kolulyo ile kolumosho u kwate umwe womovamati ovo u mu kufe oiti yaye.” Ndelenee Asahel ina hala oku mu aluka. 22 Ndele Abner ta ti vali lumwe kuAsahel: “Ove u nokwaaluka nge, omolwashike ndi noku ku dipaa? Ame ohandi dulu ngahelipi okutala hano oshipala shomumwanyoko Joab?” 23 Ndelenee ye a anya okudja po. Opo nee Abner te mu tu neonga oshipilamo medimo, opo eonga le mu tyuuka ndele ta wile poshi ndele ta file monhele tuu oyo. Ndele aveshe ava ve uya ponhele opo Asahel a fila, ova kanghama. 24 Ndelenee Joab naAbisai va shikula Abner, netango la ningina vo eshi ve uya koshikulundu Amma, osho sha shaama naGiah pondjila yokombuwa yaGibeon.
25 Opo nee Ovabenjamin va ongala ongudu puAbner ndele va kala ofika koxulo yoshikulundu. 26 Opo nee Abner a ifana Joab ndele ta ti: Eongamukonda li nokulya fiyo ofiyo? Ku udite ko nokutya, konima otapa ka kala oixuna? Ito lombwele nokuli ovanhu va efe okutaataa ovamwaxe? 27 Ndele Joab ta nyamukula: Oshili, ngaashi Kalunga e nomwenyo, oshili, ngeno ino shi tya, ngeno ovanhu inava efa fiyo omongula okushikula ovamwaxe. 28 Opo nee Joab a shika enghuma loluvinga lodi yomhedi, novalumenhu aveshe va kanghama ndele inava shikula vali Israel ndele inave mu lwifa vali. 29 Ndele Abner novalumenhu vaye va tauluka omaluhaela oufiku aushe ndele va taulula Jordan naBitron ashishe ndele ve uya kuMahanaim. 30 Ndele Joab okwa ongela ovalumenhu aveshe, eshi a piluka nokwa efa okushikula Abner. Ndele movapiya vaDavid mwa yongolwa ovalumenhu omulongo nomugoi naAsahel. 31 Ndelenee ovapiya vaDavid va dipaa Ovabenjamin, nokutya movalumenhu vaAbner, novalumenhu omafele atatu nomilongo hamano va fya. 32 Ndele va kufa Asahel ndele ve mu paka mombila yaxe muBetlehem. Ndele Joab novalumenhu vaye va enda oufiku aushe ndele ve uya kuHebron eshi kwa sha.
David Becomes King of Judah
1 Later, David asked the Lord, “Should I go back to one of the towns of Judah?”
The Lord answered, “Yes.”
David asked, “Which town should I go to?”
“Go to Hebron,” the Lord replied.
2 David went to Hebron with his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail. Ahinoam was from Jezreel, and Abigail was the widow of Nabal from Carmel. 3 David also told his men and their families to come and live in the villages near Hebron.
4 The people of Judah met with David at Hebron and poured olive oil on his head to show that he was their new king. Then they told David, “The people from Jabesh in Gilead buried Saul.”
5 David sent messengers to tell them:
The Lord bless you! You were kind enough to bury Saul your ruler, 6 and I pray that the Lord will be kind and faithful to you. I will be your friend because of what you have done. 7 Saul is dead, but the tribe of Judah has made me their king. So be strong and have courage.
Ishbosheth Becomes King of Israel
8 Abner the son of Ner had been the general of Saul's army. He took Saul's son Ishbosheth across the Jordan River to Mahanaim 9 and made him king of Israel, including the areas of Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin. 10 Ishbosheth was 40 years old at the time, and he ruled for two years. But the tribe of Judah made David their king, 11 and he ruled from Hebron for seven and a half years.
The War between David and Ishbosheth
12 One day, Abner and the soldiers of Ishbosheth left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13 Meanwhile, Joab the son of Zeruiah was leading David's soldiers, and the two groups met at the pool in Gibeon. Abner and his men sat down on one side of the pool, while Joab and his men sat on the other side. 14 Abner yelled to Joab, “Let's get some of our best soldiers to stand up and fight each other!”
Joab agreed, 15 and twelve of Ishbosheth's men from the tribe of Benjamin got up to fight twelve of David's men. 16 They grabbed each other by the hair and stabbed each other in the side with their daggers. They all died right there! That's why the place in Gibeon is called “Field of Daggers.” 17 Then everyone started fighting. Both sides fought very hard, but David's soldiers defeated Abner and the soldiers of Israel.
18 Zeruiah's three sons were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel could run as fast as a deer in an open field, 19 and he ran straight after Abner, without looking to the right or to the left.
20 When Abner turned and saw him, he said, “Is that you, Asahel?”
Asahel answered, “Yes it is.”
21 Abner said, “There are soldiers all around. Stop chasing me and fight one of them! Kill him and take his clothes and weapons for yourself.”
But Asahel refused to stop.
22 Abner said, “If you don't turn back, I'll have to kill you! Then I could never face your brother Joab again.”
23 But Asahel would not turn back, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the back end of his spear. The spear went all the way through and came out of his back. Asahel fell down and died. Everyone who saw Asahel lying dead just stopped and stood still. 24 But Joab and Abishai went after Abner. Finally, about sunset, they came to the hill of Ammah, not far from Giah on the road to Gibeon Desert. 25 Abner brought the men of Benjamin together in one group on top of a hill, and they got ready to fight.
26 Abner shouted to Joab, “Aren't we ever going to stop killing each other? Don't you know that the longer we keep on doing this, the worse it's going to be when it's all over? When are you going to order your men to stop chasing their own relatives?”
27 Joab shouted back, “I swear by the living God, if you hadn't spoken, my men would have chased their relatives all night!” 28 Joab took his trumpet and blew the signal for his soldiers to stop chasing the soldiers of Israel. At once, the fighting stopped.
29 Abner and his troops marched through the Jordan River valley all that night. Then they crossed the river and marched all morning until they arrived back at Mahanaim.
30 As soon as Joab stopped chasing Abner, he got David's troops together and counted them. There were 19 missing besides Asahel. 31 But David's soldiers had killed 360 of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin. 32 Joab and his troops carried Asahel's body to Bethlehem and buried him in the family burial place. Then they marched all night and reached Hebron before sunrise.
