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Chapter 4 |
| 1 | And when
Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all
the Israelites were troubled. |
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2 | And Saul's son had two men that were
captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other
Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin: (for
Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin. |
| 3 | And the Beerothites fled to
Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.) |
| 4 | And Jonathan,
Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the
tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up,
and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and
became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. |
|
5 | And the sons of Rimmon
the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to
the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon. |
| 6 | And they came
thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat;
and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother
escaped. |
| 7
| For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in
his bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took
his head, and gat them away through the plain all night. |
| 8 | And they
brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king,
Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy
life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his
seed. |
| 9 |
And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of
Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath
redeemed my soul out of all adversity, |
| 10 | When one told me, saying,
Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of
him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward
for his tidings: |
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11 | How much more, when wicked men have slain a
righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now
require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? |
| 12 |
And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands
and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the
head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron. |
