20. Abner turned around and said, “Are you this Asahel?” And he said, “Yes.”
21. Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left; seize for yourself one of the young men, and take his belongings for yourself.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from him.
22. So Abner said to Asahel once again, “For your own sake, turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you down to the ground? How could I show my face to Joab your brother?”
23. But he refused to turn away, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of the spear, and the spear went out of his back. He fell there and he died on the spot. Then all who came to the place where Asahel fell and died just stood there.
24. So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner when the sun went down. And they came to the hill country of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
25. The descendants of Benjamin rallied after Abner, and they became as one fighting group and stood on the top of a certain hill.
26. Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Will the sword devour forever? Do you not know that there will be bitterness in the end? How long will you not tell the people to turn away from pursuing their brothers?”
27. Joab said, “As God lives, for if you had not spoken, the people would surely have gone up in the morning, each one of them from following after his brother.”
28. Then Joab blew on the trumpet and all the people stopped, and they no longer pursued after Israel, and they did not fight with them again.
29. Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night, and they crossed over the Jordan. They went all the forenoon and came to Mahanaim.
30. After Joab returned from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the people; nineteen of the servants of David were missing along with Asahel.
31. The servants of David had killed some of the Benjaminites among the men of Abner; three hundred and sixty men had died.