2 Samuel 4

English TL (The Living Bible) (1971)

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1When King Ish-bosheth heard about Abner's death at Hebron, he was paralyzed with fear, and his people too were badly frightened.

2The command of the Israeli troops then fell to two brothers, Baanah and Rechab, who were captains of King Ish-bosheth's raiding bands. They were the sons of Rimmon, who was from Beeroth in Benjamin.

3(People from Beeroth are counted as Benjaminites even though they fled to Gittaim, where they now live.)

4(There was a little lame grandson of King Saul's named Mephibosheth, who was the son of Prince Jonathan. He was five years old at the time Saul and Jonathan were killed at the battle of Jezreel. When the news of the outcome of the battle reached the capital, the child's nurse grabbed him and fled, but she fell and dropped him as she was running, and he became lame.)

5Rechab and Baanah arrived at King Ish-bosheth's home one noon as he was taking a nap.

6They walked into the kitchen as though to get a sack of wheat,

7but then sneaked into his bedroom and murdered him and cut off his head. Taking his head with them, they fled across the desert that night and escaped.

8They presented the head to David at Hebron. “Look!“ they exclaimed. “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you. Today the Lord has given you revenge upon Saul and upon his entire family!“

9But David replied, “I swear by the Lord who saved me from my enemies,

10that when someone told me, 'Saul is dead,' thinking he was bringing me good news, I killed him; that is how I rewarded him for his 'glad tidings.'

11And how much more shall I do to wicked men who kill a good man in his own house and on his bed! Shall I not demand your lives?“

12So David ordered his young men to kill them, and they did. They cut off their hands and feet and hanged their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. And they took Ish-bosheth's head and buried it in Abner's tomb in Hebron.

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