1 Det var nå en lang krig mellom Sauls folk og Davids folk; og David ble sterkere og sterkere, mens de som var på Sauls side ble stadig svakere.

Now there was a long war between Saul's people and David's people; and David became stronger and stronger, but those on Saul's side became more and more feeble.

2 Mens David var i Hebron, fikk han sønner; den eldste var Amnon, sønn av Ahinoam fra Jisre'el.

While David was in Hebron he became the father of sons: the oldest was Amnon, son of Ahinoam of Jezreel;

3 Den andre var Kilab, med Abigail, enken etter Nabal fra Karmel, som mor; den tredje var Absalom, sønn av Ma'aka, datter av Talmai, kongen av Gesjur.

And the second, Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom, son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur;

4 Den fjerde var Adonja, Hagits sønn; den femte var Sjefatja, Abitals sønn.

And the fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah, the son of Abital;

5 Den sjette var Jitream, som Eglah, Davids kone, var mor til. Dette var de sønnene som ble født til David i Hebron.

And the sixth, Ithream, whose mother was David's wife Eglah. These were the sons of David, whose birth took place in Hebron.

6 Mens det var krig mellom Sauls folk og Davids folk, styrket Abner sin makt blant Sauls tilhengere.

Now while there was war between Saul's people and David's people, Abner was making himself strong among the supporters of Saul.

7 Nå hadde Saul blant sine kvinner en ved navn Rispa, datter av Aja; og Ishbosjet sa til Abner: Hvorfor har du hatt omgang med min fars kvinne?

Now Saul had among his wives a woman named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, Why have you taken my father's wife?

8 Abner ble meget sint på Ishbosjets ord, og sa: Er jeg et hundehode fra Juda? Jeg har i dag gjort alt for din far Saul, hans brødre og venner, og jeg har ikke gitt deg i hendene på David, og nå beskylder du meg for å ha syndet med en kvinne!

And Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, Am I a dog's head of Judah? I am this day doing all in my power for the cause of your father Saul and for his brothers and his friends, and have not given you up into the hands of David, and now you say I have done wrong with a woman.

9 Måtte Guds straff ramme Abner hvis jeg ikke handler for David som Herren har sverget,

May God's punishment be on Abner, if I do not for David as the Lord in his oath has said,

10 og tar kongeriket fra Sauls ætt og gjør David til hersker over Israel og Juda fra Dan til Be’er-Sjeba.

And if I do not take away the kingdom from the family of Saul and make David ruler over Israel and Judah from Dan as far as Beer-sheba!

11 Og Ishbosjets frykt for Abner var så stor at han ikke torde svare med et ord.

And so great was Ish-bosheth's fear of Abner that he was not able to say a word in answer.

12 Abner sendte bud til David i Hebron og sa: Gjør en pakt med meg, så vil jeg hjelpe deg med å vinne hele Israels støtte.

And Abner sent men to David at Hebron, saying, Make an agreement with me, and I will give you my support in getting all Israel on your side.

13 Og David sa: Det er godt, jeg vil gjøre en pakt med deg, men med ett vilkår: at du ikke ser mitt ansikt med mindre du bringer Sauls datter Mikal med deg.

And he said, It is well; I will make an agreement with you, but on one condition, which is, that when you come before me, Saul's daughter Michal is to come with you; till she comes you will not see my face.

14 David sendte også bud til Ishbosjet, Sauls sønn, og sa: Gi meg tilbake Mikal, min kone, som jeg vant for prisen av noe fra hundre filistre.

And David sent men to Saul's son Ish-bosheth, saying, Give me back Michal, my wife, whom I made mine for the price of the private parts of a hundred Philistines.

15 Så sendte Ishbosjet og tok henne fra hennes mann Paltiel, sønn av Lajisj.

So Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel, the son of Laish.

16 Hennes mann fulgte henne gråtende like til Bahurim. Da sa Abner til ham: Gå tilbake. Og han gikk tilbake.

And her husband went with her as far as Bahurim, weeping while he went. Then Abner said to him, Go back. And he went back.

17 Så hadde Abner en samtale med Israels eldste og sa: I tidligere tid ønsket dere å gjøre David til konge over dere; gjør det nå:

Then Abner had a talk with the chief men of Israel, saying, In the past it was your desire to make David your king: so now, do it:

18 For Herren har sagt om David: Med min tjener Davids hånd vil jeg frelse mitt folk Israel fra filistrene og fra alle deres fiender.

For the Lord has said of David, By the hand of my servant David I will make my people Israel safe from the Philistines, and from all who are against them.

19 Abner sa det samme til Benjamins folk; og han gikk til David i Hebron for å gjøre klart for ham hva Israel og hele Benjamins folk syntes var godt.

And Abner said the same things to Benjamin: and he went to David in Hebron to make clear to him what seemed good to Israel and to all the people of Benjamin.

20 Så kom Abner, med tjue menn, til David i Hebron. Og David laget en fest for Abner og mennene som var med ham.

So Abner, with twenty men, came to Hebron, to David. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him.

21 Og Abner sa til David: Nå vil jeg gå og samle hele Israel til min herre kongen, så de kan inngå en pakt med deg, og ditt rike kan være så stort som ditt hjerte ønsker. Deretter sendte David Abner bort, og han dro i fred.

And Abner said to David, Now I will go, and make all Israel come to my lord the king, so that they may make an agreement with you, and your kingdom may be as wide as your heart's desire. Then David sent Abner away and he went in peace.

22 Nå hadde Davids tjenere og Joab vært ute og angrepet en gruppe væpnede menn, og de kom tilbake med en stor mengde krigsbytte; men Abner var ikke lenger i Hebron med David, for han hadde sendt ham bort, og han var dratt i fred.

Now the servants of David and Joab had been out attacking a band of armed men, and they came back with a great store of goods taken in the fight: but Abner was no longer in Hebron with David, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace.

23 Da Joab og hans menn kom, fikk de høre at Abner, sønn av Ner, hadde vært hos kongen, som hadde latt ham gå i fred.

When Joab and his men came, news was given them that Abner, the son of Ner, had come to the king, who had let him go away again in peace.

24 Så kom Joab til kongen og sa: Hva har du gjort? Da Abner kom til deg, hvorfor sendte du ham bort og lot ham dra?

Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? when Abner came to you why did you send him away and let him go?

25 Er det ikke klart for deg at Abner, sønn av Ner, kom for å lure deg og finne ut dine bevegelser og alt du gjør?

Is it not clear to you that Abner, the son of Ner, came with deceit to get knowledge of your going out and your coming in and of all you are doing?

26 Og da Joab hadde gått ut fra David, sendte han menn etter Abner, og de nådde ham ved vannkilden i Sira og brakte ham tilbake; men David visste ingenting om det.

And when Joab had come out from David, he sent men after Abner, and they overtook him at the water-spring of Sirah, and made him come back with them: but David had no knowledge of it.

27 Og da Abner var tilbake i Hebron, tok Joab ham til side ved byporten for å snakke stille med ham, og der stakk han ham i magen, så han døde, som hevn for sin bror Asahels død.

And when Abner was back in Hebron, Joab took him on one side by the doorway of the town to have a word with him quietly, and there he gave him a wound in the stomach, causing his death in payment for the death of his brother Asahel.

28 Da David fikk høre om det, sa han: Måtte jeg og mitt rike for alltid være rene i Herrens øyne fra Abners blod, Ners sønn.

And when David had word of it he said, May I and my kingdom be clear for ever in the eyes of the Lord from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner:

29 Måtte dette komme over Joab og hele hans familie: blant Joabs slekt må det alltid være noen med sykdom eller spedalskhet, eller som gjør kvinners arbeid, eller som dør ved sverdet, eller som mangler mat.

May it come on the head of Joab and all his father's family: among the men of Joab's family may there ever be some who are diseased or lepers, or who do the work of women, or are put to the sword, or are wasted from need of food!

30 Så drepte Joab og hans bror Abisjai Abner fordi han hadde drept deres bror Asahel i kampen ved Gibeon.

So Joab and Abishai his brother put Abner to death, because he had put to death their brother Asahel in the fight at Gibeon.

31 David sa til Joab og alle som var med ham: Klæ dere i sorg og sørg over Abner. Og kong David gikk etter likbåren.

And David said to Joab and all the people who were with him, Go in grief and put haircloth about you, in sorrow for Abner. And King David went after the dead body.

32 De la Abners kropp til hvile i Hebron, og kongen og alle folk gråt høyt ved Abners grav.

And they put Abner's body to rest in Hebron; and the king and all the people were weeping loudly by the resting-place of Abner's body.

33 Kongen laget en sørgesang for Abner og sa: Skulle Abners død være som en død for en uskyldig?

And the king made a song of grief for Abner and said, Was the death of Abner to be like the death of a foolish man?

34 Dine hender var frie, dine føtter var ikke lenket: Som man faller for onde mennesker, slik var din fall. Og folkets sorg over ham fortsatte.

Your hands were free, your feet were not chained: like the downfall of a man before evil men, so was your fall. And the weeping of the people over him went on again.

35 Folket kom for å få David til å spise mat mens det ennå var dag, men David sverget og sa: Måtte Guds straff komme over meg hvis jeg smaker brød eller noe annet før solen er gått ned!

And the people came to make David take food, while it was still day, but David with an oath said, May God's punishment be on me if I take a taste of bread or any other thing till the sun has gone down!

36 Og hele folket la merke til det og var fornøyd; alt kongen gjorde, behaget folket.

And all the people took note of it and were pleased: like everything the king did, it was pleasing to the people.

37 Så det ble klart for Israel og hele folket den dagen at kongen ikke var ansvarlig for Abners død, Ners sønn.

So it was clear to Israel and to all the people on that day that the king was not responsible for the death of Abner, the son of Ner.

38 Og kongen sa til sine tjenere: Ser dere ikke at en leder og en stor mann har falt i dag i Israel?

And the king said to his servants, Do you not see that a chief and a great man has come to his end today in Israel?

39 Mens jeg, selv om jeg er kronet som konge, har liten styrke, og disse mennene, Seruja-sønnene, er utenfor min kontroll: måtte Herren gi ugjerningsmannen igjen for hans ugjerninger!

While I, though I am crowned king, have little strength, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are out of my control: may the Lord give to the evil-doer the reward of his evil-doing!