¹Poslije toga David upita Jahvu ovako: "Treba li da pođem u koji Judin grad?" A Jahve mu odgovori: "Pođi!" David opet upita: "Kamo da pođem?" A odgovor bješe: "U Hebron!"

¹And it came to pass after this that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.

²Tako David ode onamo, a s njim i njegove dvije žene, Ahinoama iz Jizreela i Abigajila, Nabalova žena iz Karmela.

²So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

³I ljudi koji bijahu s Davidom odoše s njim, svaki sa svojom obitelji, i nastaniše se u gradićima Hebrona.

³And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household; and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

⁴Tada dođoše ljudi iz Jude i pomazaše ondje Davida za kralja nad domom Judinim. Tada javiše Davidu da su ljudi iz Jabeša u Gileadu pokopali Šaula.

⁴And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, It is the men of Jabesh-Gilead that have buried Saul.

⁵Nato David posla glasnike k Jabešanima u Gileadu i poruči im: "Budite blagoslovljeni od Jahve što ste izvršili to djelo ljubavi prema svome gospodaru Šaulu i što ste ga pokopali!

⁵And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of Jehovah, that ye have shewn this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him!

⁶Zato neka vam Jahve iskaže svoju ljubav i dobrotu, a i ja ću vam učiniti dobro zato što ste tako radili.

⁶And now Jehovah shew kindness and faithfulness to you; and I also will requite you this good, because ye have done this thing.

⁷A sada se ohrabrite i budite junaci, jer je Šaul, vaš gospodar, poginuo, a mene je Judin dom pomazao za svoga kralja."

⁷And now let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.

⁸Ali Abner, sin Nerov, vojvoda Šaulove vojske, bijaše uzeo Šaulova sina Išbaala i doveo ga prijeko u Mahanajim.

⁸And Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;

⁹Ondje ga je postavio za kralja nad Gileadom, nad Ašeranima, nad Jizreelom, Efrajimom, Benjaminom i nad svim Izraelom.

⁹and made him king over Gilead, and over the Asshurites, and over Jizreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

¹⁰Išbaalu, sinu Šaulovu, bijaše četrdeset godina kad je postao kraljem nad Izraelom, a kraljevao je dvije godine. Samo je Judin dom pristao uz Davida.

¹⁰Ishbosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. However, the house of Judah followed David.

¹¹A David je kraljevao u Hebronu nad Judinim domom sedam godina i šest mjeseci.

¹¹And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

¹²Potom iziđe Abner, Nerov sin, s ljudima Šaulova sina Išbaala iz Mahanajima prema Gibeonu.

¹²And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

¹³Ali i Joab, Sarvijin sin, iziđe s Davidovim ljudima iz Hebrona i srete se s njima kod Gibeonskog jezera. Tu se zaustaviše, ovi s jedne strane jezera, a oni s druge strane.

¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out. And they met together by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, these on the one side of the pool, and those on the other side of the pool.

¹⁴Tada Abner reče Joabu: "Neka ustanu mladići i neka se bore pred nama!" A Joab odgovori: "Neka ustanu!"

¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise and make sport before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

¹⁵I ustadoše, pa ih izbrojiše: dvanaest od Benjamina za Išbaala, Šaulova sina, i dvanaest od Davidovih ljudi.

¹⁵And they arose and went over by number, twelve for Benjamin, and for Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

¹⁶I svaki dohvati svoga protivnika za glavu i zabode mu mač u bok, tako da su svi popadali zajedno. Zato se to mjesto prozvalo Polje bokova, a leži kod Gibeona.

¹⁶And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and [thrust] his sword in his fellow's side, and they fell down together. And that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is by Gibeon.

¹⁷Potom se zametnu onoga dana vrlo žestoka bitka i Davidove čete razbiše Abnera i Izraelce.

¹⁷And the battle that day was very severe; and Abner and the men of Israel were routed before the servants of David.

¹⁸A bijahu ondje tri Sarvijina sina: Joab, Abišaj i Asahel; a Asahel bijaše brz u trku kao gazela u polju.

¹⁸And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift of foot, as one of the gazelles that are in the field.

¹⁹I jurnu Asahel u potjeru za Abnerom; u stopu je slijedio Abnera ne skrećući ni desno ni lijevo.

¹⁹And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from behind Abner.

²⁰Abner se obazre i upita: "Jesi li to ti, Asahele?" A on odgovori: "Jesam."

²⁰Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he said, I am.

²¹A Abner mu reče: "Okreni se nadesno ili nalijevo pa zgrabi jednoga od tih mladića i uzmi njegovu odoru!" Ali Asahel nije htio da skrene od njega.

²¹And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside, to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay hold of one of the young men, and take for thyself his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.

²²Abner opet reče Asahelu: "Ukloni se od mene! Zašto da te sastavim sa zemljom? Kako bih onda još smio doći na oči tvome bratu Joabu?"

²²And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: why should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?

²³Ali on nikako nije htio da se ukloni. Zato ga Abner udari stražnjim krajem koplja u trbuh tako da mu je koplje izašlo kroz leđa van: on ondje pade i umrije na mjestu. I ustavljao se tko god je došao na ono mjesto gdje je pao i umro Asahel.

²³But he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the belly, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place. And it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.

²⁴Ali Joab i Abišaj nastaviše da gone Abnera, a kad je sunce zašlo, stigoše do brežuljka Ame, koji leži istočno od doline, na putu prema Gebi.

²⁴And Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner; and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵Dotle se Benjaminovi sinovi skupiše za Abnerom, sastaviše četu i stadoše na vrh brežuljka Ame.

²⁵And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of a hill.

²⁶Tada Abner viknu Joabu: "Zar će nas dovijeka proždirati mač? Ne znaš li da će to svršiti nesrećom? Kad ćeš napokon kazati svojim ljudima da se okane gonjenja svoje braće?"

²⁶And Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? and how long shall it be ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?

²⁷A Joab odvrati: "Tako mi živog Jahve, da ti nisi progovorio, tek bi se sutra ujutro ovi ljudi okanili gonjenja svoje braće."

²⁷And Joab said, [As] God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.

²⁸Nato Joab zatrubi u rog i sva vojska stade: prestadoše goniti Izraela i ne nastaviše boja.

²⁸And Joab blew the trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither did they fight any more.

²⁹Abner i njegovi ljudi išli su kroz Arabu cijelu onu noć; onda prijeđoše preko Jordana, nastaviše put cijelo jutro i stigoše napokon u Mahanajim.

²⁹And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.

³⁰Kad je Joab odustao od potjere za Abnerom i skupio svu vojsku, vidješe da između Davidovih ljudi nema devetnaestorice, i uz to Asahela.

³⁰And Joab returned from following Abner, and gathered all the people together; and there lacked of David's servants nineteen men, and Asahel.

³¹A Davidovi su ljudi od Benjaminovih sinova, Abnerovih vojnika, pobili tri stotine i šezdeset ljudi.

³¹And the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, three hundred and sixty men, who had died.

³²Asahela ponesoše i pokopaše u grobu njegova oca u Betlehemu. A Joab i njegovi ljudi išli su svu noć i već se bijaše zadanilo kad stigoše u Hebron.

³²And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.