²⁸ And everything Samuel the prophet and Saul, the son of Kish, and Abner, the son of Ner, and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, had made holy; whatever anyone had given, it was under the care of Shelomoth and his brothers.

⁹ (In the past in Israel, when a man went to get directions from God, he said, Come let us go to the Seer, for he who now is named Prophet was in those days given the name of Seer.)

⁴⁷ Now when Saul had taken his place as ruler of Israel, he made war on those who were against him on every side, Moab and the Ammonites and Edom and the kings of Zobah and the Philistines: and whichever way he went, he overcame them.

⁴⁸ And he did great things, and overcame the Amalekites, and made Israel safe from the hands of their attackers.

⁴⁹ Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and these are the names of his daughters: the older was named Merab and the younger Michal;

⁵⁰ The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, brother of Saul's father.

⁵¹ Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were sons of Abiel.

⁵⁵ And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, On your life, O king, I have no idea.

⁹ Now when Joab saw that their forces were in position against him in front and at his back, he took the best of the men of Israel and put them in line against the Aramaeans;

¹⁰ And the rest of the people he put in position against the children of Ammon, with Abishai, his brother, at their head.

¹¹ And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then you are to come to my help; but if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help.

¹² Take heart, and let us be strong for our people and for the towns of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.

¹³ Then Joab and the people with him went forward to the fight against the Aramaeans, and they went in flight before him.

¹⁴ And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, and came into the town. So Joab went back from fighting the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.