5And David sent to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, May the Lord give you his blessing, because you have done this kind act to Saul your lord, and have put his body to rest!
6May the Lord be good and true to you: and I myself will see that your kind act is rewarded, because you have done this thing.
7Then let your hands be strong, and have no fear: though Saul your lord is dead, the people of Judah have made me their king.
8Now Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Saul's son Ish-bosheth over to Mahanaim,
9And made him king over Gilead and the Asherites and over Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin, that is, over all Israel.
10(Saul's son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was ruler for two years.) But Judah was on the side of David.
11And the time when David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah was seven years and six months.
