CHAPTER 4
Now when Ish-bosheth son
of Saul
heard
that
Abner
had died
in Hebron,
he lost
courage,
and all
Israel
was dismayed.
Saul’s
son
had two
men
who were leaders
of raiding parties:
One was
named
Baanah
and the other
Rechab;
they were the sons
of Rimmon
the Beerothite
of the tribe
of Benjamin
(
Beeroth
is also
considered
part of
Benjamin,
And Jonathan
son
of Saul
had a son who was
lame in
his feet.
He was
five
years old
when the report
about Saul
and Jonathan
came
from Jezreel.
His nurse
picked him up
and fled,
but as she was hurrying
to escape,
he fell
and became lame.
His name
was Mephibosheth.
Now Rechab
and Baanah,
the sons
of Rimmon
the Beerothite,
set out
and arrived
at
the house
of Ish-bosheth
in the heat
of the day,
while the king
was taking his midday
nap.
They entered
the interior
of the house
as if to get
some wheat,
and they stabbed him
in
the stomach.
Then Rechab
and his brother
Baanah
slipped away.
They had entered
the house
while Ish-bosheth
was lying
on
his bed,
and having stabbed
and killed him,
they beheaded
him,
took
his head,
and traveled
all
night
by way
of the Arabah.
They brought
the head
of
Ish-bosheth
to
David
at Hebron
and said
to
the king,
“Here is
the head
of Ish-bosheth
son
of Saul,
your enemy
who
sought
your life.
Today
the LORD
has granted
vengeance
to my lord
the king
against Saul
and his offspring."
But David
answered
Rechab
and his brother
Baanah,
sons
of Rimmon
the Beerothite,
“As surely as the LORD
lives,
who
has redeemed
my life
from all
distress,
when
someone told
me,
‘Look,
Saul
is dead’
and thought
he
was
a bearer of good news,
I seized
him
and put him to death
at Ziklag.
That
was his reward
for his news!
How much more,
when
wicked
men
kill
a righteous
man
in his own house
and on
his own bed,
shall I not now
require
his blood
from
your hands
and wipe you off
the earth!”
So David
commanded
his young men,
and they killed Rechab and Baanah.
They cut off
their hands
and feet
and hung
their bodies by
the pool
in Hebron,
but they took
the head
of Ish-bosheth
and buried
it in Abner’s
tomb
in Hebron.