Through the Bible – Day 106

_2-5Several of David's sons were born while he was living in Hebron. His eldest son was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel. David's second son was Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, who had been married to Nabal from Carmel. Absalom was the third. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur. The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital. The sixth was Ithream, whose mother was Eglah, another one of David's wives.

₆As the war went on between the families of David and Saul, Abner was gaining more power than ever in Saul's family. ₇He had even slept with a wife of Saul by the name of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah. But Saul's son Ishbosheth told Abner, “You shouldn't have slept with one of my father's wives!”

₈Abner was very angry at what Ishbosheth had said, and he told Ishbosheth:

₁₁Ishbosheth was so afraid of Abner that he could not even answer.

₁₂Abner sent some of his men to David with this message: “You should be the ruler of the whole nation. If you make an agreement with me, I will persuade everyone in Israel to make you their king.”

₁₃David sent this message back: “Good! I'll make an agreement with you. But before I will even talk with you about it, you must get Saul's daughter Michal back for me.”

₁₄David sent a few of his officials to Ishbosheth to give him this message: “Give me back my wife Michal! I killed a hundred Philistines so I could marry her.”

₁₅Ishbosheth sent some of his men to take Michal away from her new husband, Paltiel the son of Laish. ₁₆Paltiel followed Michal and the men all the way to Bahurim, crying as he walked. But he went back home after Abner ordered him to leave.

₁₇Abner talked with the leaders of the tribes of Israel and told them, “You've wanted to make David your king for a long time now. ₁₈So do it! After all, God said he would use his servant David to rescue his people Israel from their enemies, especially from the Philistines.”

₁₉Finally, Abner talked with the tribe of Benjamin. Then he left for Hebron to tell David everything that the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of the people of Israel wanted to do. ₂₀Abner took twenty soldiers with him, and when they got to Hebron, David gave a big feast for them.

₂₁After the feast, Abner said, “Your Majesty, let me leave now and bring Israel here to make an agreement with you. You'll be king of the whole nation, just as you've been wanting.”

David told Abner he could leave, and he left without causing any trouble.

₂₂Soon after Abner had left Hebron, Joab and some of David's soldiers came back, bringing a lot of things they had taken from an enemy village. ₂₃Just after they arrived, someone told Joab, “Abner visited the king, and the king let him go. Abner even left without causing any trouble.”

₂₄Joab went to David and said, “What have you done? Abner came to you, and you let him go. Now he's long gone! ₂₅You know Abner—he came to trick you. He wants to find out how strong your army is and to know everything you're doing.”

₂₆Joab left David, then he sent some messengers to catch up with Abner. They brought him back from the well at Sirah, but David did not know anything about it. ₂₇When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pretended he wanted to talk privately with him. So he took Abner into one of the small rooms that were part of the town gate and stabbed him in the stomach. Joab killed him because Abner had killed Joab's brother Asahel.

₂₈David heard how Joab had killed Abner, and he said, “I swear to the LORD that I am completely innocent of Abner's death! ₂₉Joab and his family are the guilty ones. I pray that Joab's family will always be sick with sores and other skin diseases. May they all be cowards, and may they die in war or starve to death.”

₃₀Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

₃₁David told Joab and everyone with him, “Show your sorrow by tearing your clothes and wearing sackcloth! Walk in front of Abner's body and cry!”

David walked behind the stretcher on which Abner's body was being carried. ₃₂Abner was buried in Hebron, while David and everyone else stood at the tomb and cried loudly. ₃₃Then the king sang a funeral song about Abner:

Everyone started crying again. ₃₅Then they brought some food to David and told him he would feel better if he had something to eat. It was still daytime, and David said, “I swear to God that I'll not take a bite of bread or anything else until sunset!”

₃₆Everyone noticed what David did, and they liked it, just as they always liked what he did. ₃₇Now the people of Judah and Israel were certain that David had nothing to do with killing Abner.

₃₈David said to his officials, “Don't you realize that today one of Israel's great leaders has died? ₃₉I am the chosen king, but Joab and Abishai have more power than I do. So God will have to pay them back for the evil thing they did.”

₁Ishbosheth felt like giving up after he heard that Abner had died in Hebron. Everyone in Israel was terrified.

₂Ishbosheth had put the two brothers Baanah and Rechab in charge of the soldiers who raided enemy villages. Rimmon was their father, and they were from the town of Beeroth, which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. ₃The people who used to live in Beeroth had run away to Gittaim, and they still live there.

₄Saul's son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who had not been able to walk since he was five years old. It happened when someone from Jezreel told his nurse that Saul and Jonathan had died. She hurried off with the boy in her arms, but he fell and injured his legs.

₅One day about midday, Rechab and Baanah went to Ishbosheth's house. It was a hot day, and he was resting _6-7in his bedroom. The two brothers went into the house, pretending to get some flour. But once they were inside, they stabbed Ishbosheth in the stomach and killed him. Then they cut off his head and took it with them.

Rechab and Baanah walked through the Jordan valley all night long. ₈Finally they turned west and went to Hebron. They went in to see David and told him, “Your Majesty, here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you! The LORD has let you get even with Saul and his family.”

₉David answered:

₁₂Then David said to his troops, “Kill these two brothers! Cut off their hands and feet and hang their bodies by the pool in Hebron. But bury Ishbosheth's head in Abner's tomb near Hebron.” And they did.

₁As thousands of people crowded around Jesus and were stepping on each other, he told his disciples:

₁₃A man in a crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died.”

₁₄Jesus answered, “Who gave me the right to settle arguments between you and your brother?”

₁₅Then he said to the crowd, “Don't be greedy! Owning a lot of things won't make your life safe.”

₁₆So Jesus told them this story:

₂₁“This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God.”