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¹ After these actes Dauid axed at the LORDE, and sayde: Shall I go vp in to one of the cities of Iuda? And the LORDE sayde vnto him: Go vp. Dauid sayde: Whither? He sayde: Vnto Hebron.² So Dauid wente thither with his two wyues, Ahinoam the Iesraelitisse, and Abigail Nabals wyfe of Carmel.³ And Dauid broughte vp the men that were him also, euery one with his housholde, and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.⁴ And ye men of Iuda came, and there they anointed him kynge ouer the house of Iuda. And wha it was tolde Dauid, that they of Iabes in Gilead had buried Saul,⁵ he sent messaungers vnto them, sayenge: Blessed be ye of the LORDE, that ye haue done soch mercy vpon youre lorde Saul, and haue buried him.⁶ The LORDE therfore shewe mercy now and faithfulnes vpon you. And because ye haue done this, I also wyll do you good.⁷ Let youre hade now therfore be comforted, and be ye stronge: for though Saul youre lorde be deed, yet hath the house of Iuda chosen me to be kynge ouer them.

⁸ But Abner the sonne of Ner, which was Sauls chefe captayne, toke Ißboseth the sonne of Saul, and broughte him thorow the hoost,⁹ and made him kynge ouer Gilead, Assuri, Iesrael, Ephraim, Ben Iamin and ouer all Israel.¹⁰ And Ißboseth the sonne of Saul was fourtye yeare olde, whan he was made kynge of Israel, & he raigned two yeares. But the house of Iuda helde with Dauid:¹¹ The tyme yt Dauid was kynge at Hebron ouer the house of Iuda, was seuen yeare and sixe monethes longe.¹² And Abner the sonne of Ner wete forth with the seruauntes of Ißboseth the sonne of Saul, out of ye hoost vnto Gibeon.¹³ And Ioab the sonne of Zeru Ia wete forth with Dauids seruauntes, and they met together by the pole at Gibeon, and these laye on the one syde of the pole, the other on the other syde.¹⁴ And Abner sayde vnto Ioab: Let the yonge me get them vp, and playe before vs. Ioab sayde: Let them aryse.¹⁵ Then gat they them vp, & wente in nombre twolue of Ben Iamin on Ißboseth Sauls sonnes syde, and twolue of Dauids seruauntes.¹⁶ And euery one gat another by the heade, and thrust his swerde in his syde, and fell together: therfore is the place called Helkath hazurim (that is, the felde of the Worthies) which is at Gibeon.¹⁷ And there arose a sore harde battayll the same daye. But Abner and the men of Israel were put to flighte of Dauids seruauntes.

¹⁸ Thre sonnes of Zeru Ia were there, Ioab, Abisai & Asahel. As for Asahel, he was lighte of fete as a Roo in ye felde,¹⁹ & folowed after Abner, and turned not asyde nether to the righte hande ner to ye lefte from Abner.²⁰ Then Abner turned him aboute, and sayde: Art thou Asahel? He sayde: Yee.²¹ Abner sayde vnto him: Go thy waye ether to the righte hande or to the lefte, and get the one of ye yonge men, and take his harnesse from him. Neuertheles he wolde not leaue of fro him.²² Then sayde Abner agayne to Asahel: Get the awaye fro me, why wilt thou that I smyte the to the grounde? and how darre I lifte vp my face before yi brother Ioab?²³ Howbeit he wolde not go his waye. Then Abner thrust him in with a speare in to his bely, so that the speare wete out behynde him. And there he fell and dyed before him: and who so came to the place where Asahel laye deed, stode styll there.²⁴ But Ioab and Abisai folowed vpon Abner, till the sonne wente downe. And whan they came to ye hyll of Amma, which lieth before Giah, by ye waye to the wildernes of Gibeon,

²⁵ the children of Ben Iamin gathered them selues together behynde Abner, and grewe to a multitude, and stode vpon the toppe of an hyll.²⁶ And Abner called vnto Ioab, and sayde: Shal the swerde the deuoure without ende? Knowest thou not, that it wyll be bytter at the last? How longe wil it be or thou saie vnto the people, that they leaue of from their brethre:²⁷ Ioab sayde: As truly as God lyueth yf thou haddest sayde thus daye in the morninge, the people had ceassed euery one from his brother.²⁸ And Ioab blewe the trompet, & all the people stode still, and folowed nomore vpon Israel, nether foughte they eny more.²⁹ Abner and his men wente all that same night ouer the playne felde, and passed ouer Iordane, & walked thorow all Bithron, and came to the tentes.³⁰ Ioab turned him from Abner, and gathered all ye people together. And of Dauids seruauntes there myssed nynetene men, and Asahel.³¹ But Dauids seruautes had smytten so amonge Ben Iamin and the men of Abner, that thre hundreth and thre score men were deed.³² And they toke vp Asahel, and buried him in his fathers graue at Bethleem. And Ioab with his men wete all that nighte: and at the breake of the daie they came vnto Hebron.