Bible

2 Samuel 3:31-39

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31Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and walk in mourning in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier.

32They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.

33The king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner have died as the lawless die?

34Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before the wicked.” And all the people wept over him again.

35Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!” 36All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them.

37So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner. 38Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? 39And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”