¶ And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands¹ were feeble, and all² the Israelites were troubled.

And Saul's son had two men that were captains³ of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other⁴ Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin:

⁵And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.)

And Jonathan⁶, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings⁷ 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 Mephibosheth⁸.

And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went¹⁰, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed¹¹ at noon.

And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though¹² they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under¹³ the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head¹⁴, and gat them away through the plain all night.

And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought¹⁵ thy life; and the LORD¹⁶ hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.

¶ And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath¹⁷ redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

¶ When one¹⁸ told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking¹⁹ 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:

How much more, when wicked²⁰ men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require²¹ his blood of your hand, and take you away from²² the earth?

And David commanded his young men, and they slew them,²³ and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged²⁴ them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre²⁵ of Abner in Hebron.