5. David sent messengers to tell them:The Lord bless you! You were kind enough to bury Saul your ruler,
6. and I pray that the Lord will be kind and faithful to you. I will be your friend because of what you have done.
7. Saul is dead, but the tribe of Judah has made me their king. So be strong and have courage.
8. Abner the son of Ner had been the general of Saul's army. He took Saul's son Ishbosheth across the River Jordan to Mahanaim
9. and made him king of Israel, including the areas of Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin.
10. Ishbosheth was forty years old at the time, and he ruled for two years. But the tribe of Judah made David their king,
11. and he ruled from Hebron for seven and a half years.
12. One day, Abner and the soldiers of Ishbosheth left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon.
13. Meanwhile, Joab the son of Zeruiah was leading David's soldiers, and the two groups met at the pool in Gibeon. Abner and his men sat down on one side of the pool, while Joab and his men sat on the other side.
14. Abner yelled to Joab, “Let's get some of our best soldiers to stand up and fight each other!”Joab agreed,
15. and twelve of Ishbosheth's men from the tribe of Benjamin got up to fight twelve of David's men.
16. They grabbed each other by the hair and stabbed each other in the side with their daggers. They all died there! That's why the place in Gibeon is called “Field of Daggers”.
17. Then everyone started fighting. Both sides fought very hard, but David's soldiers defeated Abner and the soldiers of Israel.
18. Zeruiah's three sons were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel could run as fast as a deer in an open field,
19. and he ran straight after Abner, without looking to the right or to the left.
20. When Abner turned and saw him, he said, “Is that you, Asahel?”Asahel answered, “Yes it is.”
21. Abner said, “There are soldiers all around. Stop chasing me and fight one of them! Kill him and take his clothes and weapons for yourself.”But Asahel refused to stop.