The king replied to him, &#8220;Go in peace.&#8221; So Absalom<n id="1" /> got up and went to Hebron.p>

David also brought along the men who were with him, each with his family. They settled in the cities<n id="1" /> of Hebron.

<p class="bodytext">Now sons were born to David in Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon, born to Ahinoam the Jezreelite.

His sixth son was Ithream, born to David&#8217;s wife Eglah. These sons<n id="1" /> were all born to David in Hebron.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">When Ish-bosheth<n id="1" /> the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened,<n id="2" /> and all Israel was afraid.

<p class="bodytext">So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them<n id="1" /> near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth<n id="2" /> and buried it in the tomb of Abner<n id="3" /> in Hebron.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">When all the leaders<n id="1" /> of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them<n id="2" /> in Hebron before the <sc>Lordsc>. They designated<n id="3" /> David as king over Israel.

David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven and a half years.<n id="1" />p>

They took Asahel&#8217;s body and buried him in his father&#8217;s tomb at Bethlehem.<n id="1" /> Joab and his men then traveled all that night and reached Hebron by dawn.

When Abner, accompanied by twenty men, came to David in Hebron, David prepared a banquet for Abner and the men who were with him.

So they buried Abner in Hebron. The king cried loudly<n id="1" /> over Abner&#8217;s grave and all the people wept too.

<t /><p class="bodytext">All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, &#8220;Look, we are your very flesh and blood!<n id="1" />

In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem<n id="1" /> he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.p>

David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David.

<p class="bodytext">After four<n id="1" /> years Absalom said to the king, &#8220;Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the <sc>Lordsc> while I was in Hebron.

<p class="bodytext">Then Absalom sent spies through all the tribes of Israel who said, &#8220;When you hear the sound of the horn, you may assume<n id="1" /> that Absalom rules in Hebron.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">Afterward David inquired of the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?&#8221; The <sc>Lordsc> told him, &#8220;Go up.&#8221; David asked, &#8220;Where should I go?&#8221; The <sc>Lordsc> replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;To Hebron.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">Then Abner spoke privately<n id="1" /> with the Benjaminites. Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately<n id="2" /> of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now David&#8217;s soldiers<n id="1" /> and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David<n id="2" /> had sent him away and he had left in peace.

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him<n id="1" /> in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel.<n id="2" />p>