2 Samuel 2
1 Siden spurte David Herren: Skal jeg dra op til en av byene i Juda? Herren svarte: Gjør det! Da spurte David: Hvorhen skal jeg dra? Han svarte: Til Hebron.
Some time after that, David asked Yahweh, “Should I go back to [live in] one of the towns in Judah?” Yahweh replied, “Yes, go up there.” Then David asked, “To which town should I go?” Yahweh replied, “To Hebron.”
2 Så drog David der op med sine to hustruer, Akinoam fra Jisre'el og Abiga'il, karmelitten Nabals hustru.
So David went up there, taking his two wives, Ahinoam who was from Jezreel [city], and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel [city].
3 Og de menn som var hos ham, lot David også dra der op, hver med sitt hus, og de bosatte sig i byene omkring Hebron.
He also took the men who had been with him, and their families. They all started to live in villages near Hebron.
4 Da kom Judas menn dit og salvet David til konge over Judas hus. Så kom det nogen og fortalte David at det var mennene i Jabes i Gilead som hadde begravet Saul.
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and [one of] them poured olive oil on David’s head [to show they were appointing him to be] [MTY] the king of the tribe [MTY] of Judah. When David found out that the people of Jabesh [town] in [the] Gilead [region] had buried Saul’s body,
5 Da sendte David bud til mennene i Jabes i Gilead og lot si til dem: Velsignet være I av Herren, fordi I har gjort den kjærlighetsgjerning mot eders herre Saul å begrave ham!
he sent messengers to the men of Jabesh to tell them this: “I desire/hope that Yahweh will bless you for having shown, by burying the body of Saul your king, that you were loyal to him.
6 Så vise nu Herren sin miskunnhet og trofasthet mot eder, og jeg vil også gjøre vel mot eder, fordi I har gjort dette.
Now I also desire/hope that Yahweh will faithfully love you and be loyal to you. And I will do good things for you because of what you have done [for Saul].
7 Så ta nu mot til eder og vær djerve menn! For vel er eders herre Saul død, men Judas hus har også salvet mig til konge over sig.
Now, although Saul your king is dead, be strong and courageous, like the people of Judah, who have appointed me to be their king.”
8 Men Abner, Ners sønn, Sauls hærfører, tok Isboset, Sauls sønn, og førte ham over til Mahana'im
[While this was happening], Ner’s son Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ishbosheth and went across [the Jordan River] to Mahanaim [town].
9 og gjorde ham til konge over Gilead og over asurittene og over Jisre'el og Efra'im og Benjamin og over hele Israel.
There Abner proclaimed that Ishbosheth was now the king of [the] Gilead [region] and of the tribe of Asher and the region of Jezreel and the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. That meant that he was the king of all of the people of Israel.
10 Isboset, Sauls sønn, var firti år gammel da han blev konge over Israel, og han regjerte i to år; det var bare Judas hus som holdt sig til David.
Ishbosheth was 40 years old when he started to rule over the people of Israel. He ruled them for two years. But the tribe of Judah (was loyal to David/wanted David to be their king),
11 Og hele den tid David var konge i Hebron over Judas hus, var syv år og seks måneder.
and he ruled them for seven and a half years while he was living in Hebron.
12 Abner, Ners sønn, tok ut fra Mahana'im med Isbosets, Sauls sønns folk og drog til Gibeon.
[One day] Abner and the officials of Isbosheth went from Mahanaim [across the Jordan River] to Gibeon [city].
13 Og Joab, Serujas sønn, og Davids folk drog også ut og traff sammen med dem ved Gibeondammen; den ene flokk leiret sig på den ene side av dammen og den andre på den andre side.
Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, and some of David’s officials [went from Hebron to Gibeon, and] met at the pool there. They all sat down, the one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the other side.
14 Da sa Abner til Joab: La de unge menn trede frem og holde en krigslek for våre øine! Joab svarte: Ja, la dem det!
Abner said to Joab, “Let’s tell some of our young men to fight each other!” Joab replied, “Okay!”
15 Så reiste de sig og gikk frem i det fastsatte tall: tolv for Benjamin og Isboset, Sauls sønn, og tolv av Davids folk.
So twelve men from the tribe of Benjamin fought for Ishbosheth, against twelve of David’s soldiers.
16 Og de grep hverandre i hodet og stakk sverdet i siden på hverandre, og så falt de alle sammen. Siden kaltes dette sted Helkat-Hassurim; det ligger ved Gibeon.
Each of them grabbed the head of the man against whom he was fighting, and thrust his sword into that man’s side. The result was that all 24 of them fell down dead. So that area in Gibeon is now called ‘Field of Swords’.
17 Striden blev meget hård den dag, og Abner og Israels menn blev slått av Davids folk.
Then [the others started to fight]. It was a very fierce battle. Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s soldiers.
18 Der var Serujas tre sønner med: Joab og Abisai og Asael. Asael var lett på foten som et rådyr på marken.
Zeruiah’s three sons were there [on that day]: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was able to run very fast; he could run as fast as a wild gazelle/antelope.
19 Og Asael satte efter Abner og bøide ikke av hverken til høire eller til venstre, men holdt sig stadig i Abners spor.
Asahel started to pursue Abner. He ran straight toward Abner, without stopping.
20 Da vendte Abner sig om og sa: Er det du, Asael? Han svarte: Ja.
Abner looked behind him, and said “Is that you, Asahel?” Asahel replied, “Yes!”
21 Da sa Abner til ham: Bøi av, enten til høire eller til venstre! Grip en av de unge og ta hans rustning! Men Asael vilde ikke la være å forfølge ham.
Abner yelled at him, “Turn to one side or the other, [and pursue someone else]!” But Asahel would not stop pursuing Abner.
22 Da sa Abner atter til Asael: La være å forfølge mig! Vil du kanskje jeg skal slå dig til jorden? Hvorledes skulde jeg da kunne se din bror Joab i øinene?
So Abner yelled at him again, “Stop (chasing after/pursuing) me! (Why should I kill you?/It would not be good for me to kill you!) [RHQ] If I did that, (how could I (face/be reconciled with) your brother Joab?/it would be very difficult for me to (face/be reconciled with) your brother Joab.) [RHQ]”
23 Men han vilde ikke holde op; da stakk Abner ham med bakenden av sitt spyd i underlivet, så spydet gikk ut gjennem ryggen på ham, og han falt om der og døde på stedet. Og hver den som kom til det sted hvor Asael var falt og døde, stanset der.
But Asahel refused to stop pursuing Abner. So Abner [suddenly turned and] thrust the butt end of his spear into Asahel’s stomach. Because he thrust it very strongly, that end of the spear [went though Asahel’s body and] came out at his back, and he fell to the ground, dead. All the other soldiers who came to the place where his body was lying stopped and stood there, [stunned].
24 Joab og Abisai forfulgte Abner; og da solen var gått ned, kom de til Amma-haugen, som ligger midt imot Giah på veien til Gibeons ørken.
But Joab and Abishai continued to pursue Abner. At sunset they came to Ammah Hill, which is east of Giah, along the road to the desert near Gibeon.
25 Men Benjamins barn samlet sig i én flokk om Abner og stilte sig på toppen av en haug.
The men from the tribe of Benjamin gathered around Abner in one group, and stood at the top of a hill.
26 Da ropte Abner til Joab: Skal sverdet aldri holde op å fortære? Skjønner du ikke at dette vil ende med sorg? Hvor lenge vil du vente før du byder dine folk at de skal holde op med å forfølge sine brødre?
Then Abner called out to Joab, saying “Are we going to continue to fight forever [RHQ]? Do you not realize that [if we continue fighting], the result will be very bad [RHQ]? We are all descendants of Jacob. [So we should stop fighting each other] (How long will it be until you tell your soldiers to stop pursuing us?/Tell your soldiers to stop pursuing us.)” [RHQ]
27 Joab svarte: Så sant Gud lever: Hadde du ingen ting sagt, da skulde folket allerede fra morgenen av være blitt ført bort, så ingen hadde forfulgt sin bror.
Joab replied, “Just as surely as God lives, if you had not said that, my soldiers would have continued pursuing your men until tomorrow morning!”
28 Så støtte Joab i basunen, og alt folket stanset og forfulgte ikke Israel lenger og blev heller ikke ved å stride mere.
So Joab blew a trumpet [to signal that they should stop fighting]. So all his men did that. They did not pursue the soldiers of Israel any more, and they stopped fighting.
29 Abner og hans menn gikk gjennem ødemarken hele den natt; så satte de over Jordan og gikk gjennem hele Bitron og kom til Mahana'im.
That night Abner and his soldiers went through the Jordan [River] Valley. They crossed the Jordan [River] and marched all the next morning, and they finally arrived at Mahanaim.
30 Da Joab hadde holdt op med å forfølge Abner, samlet han alt folket, og der savnedes av Davids folk nitten mann foruten Asael.
Joab [and his soldiers] stopped pursuing Abner. And when he gathered all his soldiers together, he found out that in addition to Asahel, only 19 of them had been killed in the battle.
31 Men Davids folk hadde drept tre hundre og seksti mann av Benjamin og blandt Abners menn.
But David’s soldiers had killed 360 of Abner’s men, all from the tribe of Benjamin.
32 Asael tok de op og begravde ham i hans fars grav i Betlehem. Joab og hans menn gikk hele natten og kom til Hebron da det begynte å dages.
[Some of Joab’s soldiers] took Asahel’s body and buried it in the tomb where his father had been buried, in Bethlehem. Then they marched all during the night, and at dawn they arrived [back home] at Hebron.
