(KJV) 2 Samuel 4¹

⥃The Murder of Ish-bosheth

[1] And when Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands² were feeble, and all³ the Israelites were troubled. [2] And Saul’s son had two men [that were] captains⁴ of bands: the name of the one [was] Baanah, and the name of the other⁵ Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beeroth⁶ite, of the children of Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin: [3] And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this day.)⁷ [4] And Jonathan⁸, Saul’s son, had a son [that was] lame of [his] feet. He was five years old when the tidings⁹ 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] Mephibosheth¹⁰. [5] And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went¹¹, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish–bosheth, who lay on a bed¹² at noon. [6] And they came thither into the midst of the house, [as though¹³] they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under¹⁴ the fifth [rib]: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. [7] 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 head¹⁵, and gat them away through the plain all night. [8] And they brought the head of Ish–bosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ish–bosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought¹⁶ thy life; and the Lord¹⁷ hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.

⥃The Execution of Rechab and Baanah

[9] And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, [As] the Lord liveth, who hath¹⁸ redeemed my soul out of all adversity, [10] When one¹⁹ told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking²⁰ 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: [11] How much more, when wicked²¹ men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require²² his blood of your hand, and take you away from²³ the earth? [12] And David commanded his young men, and they slew them²⁴, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged²⁵ [them] up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish–bosheth, and buried [it] in the sepulchre²⁶ of Abner in Hebron.