2 Samuel 3:28-39

²⁸Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.

²⁹May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”

³⁰(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

³¹Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.

³²When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept.

³³And the king sang this lament for Abner:

“Should Abner die

the death of a fool?

³⁴Your hands were not bound,

your feet were not fettered.

As a man falls before the wicked,

so also you fell.” And all the people wept over him even more.

³⁵Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

³⁶All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.

³⁷So on that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

³⁸Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great prince has fallen today in Israel?

³⁹And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

Related Resources from Heartlight

Cross References for 2 Samuel 3:28-39

The Berean Standard Bible