1: And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled. 2: And Saul's son had two men [that were] captains of bands: the name of the one [was] Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin: (For Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin: 3: And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been sojourners there until this day.) 4: And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son [that was] lame of [his] feet: he was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name [was] Mephibosheth. 5: And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon. 6: And they came thither into the midst of the house, [as though] they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth [rib]: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7: For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bed-chamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and went away through the plain all night. 8: And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul thy enemy, who sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and of his seed. 9: And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, [As] the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, 10: When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, (thinking to have brought good tidings,) I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who [thought] that I would have given him a reward for his tidings: 11: How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? 12: And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged [them] over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried [it] in the sepulcher of Abner in Hebron.
