5. he sent them this message: “May the lord bless you for being so loyal to your master Saul and giving him a decent burial.
6. May the lord be loyal to you in return and reward you with his unfailing love! And I, too, will reward you for what you have done.
7. Now that Saul is dead, I ask you to be my strong and loyal subjects like the people of Judah, who have anointed me as their new king.”
8. But Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had already gone to Mahanaim with Saul’s son Ishbosheth.
9. There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.
10. Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king, and he ruled from Mahanaim for two years. Meanwhile, the people of Judah remained loyal to David.
11. David made Hebron his capital, and he ruled as king of Judah for seven and a half years.
12. One day Abner led Ishbosheth’s troops from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13. About the same time, Joab son of Zeruiah led David’s troops out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. The two groups sat down there, facing each other from opposite sides of the pool.