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Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed. 2 Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands; one was named Baanah, and the other Rechab. They were the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin. Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin, 3 because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim and have lived there as resident aliens to this day.
4 Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
5 Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-bosheth. They arrived there in the heat of the day, while he was taking his noonday rest. 6 They went into the inner part of the house as though to get wheat and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.
7 They had entered the house of Ish-bosheth while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they had stabbed him and killed him, they cut off his head and took it with them. After they had travelled all night through the Arabah, 8 they came to David at Hebron. Then they presented the head of Ish-bosheth to the king and said, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”
9 But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 10 when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead’, and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That was my reward I gave him for his news! 11 How much more then, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed! So then, should I not now require his blood at your hand and rid the earth of you?”
12 So David gave the order to his young men, and they killed them. They cut off their hands and feet, and hung the bodies up by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.