2 Samuel 2:26-28
2 Samuel 2:26-28 The Message (MSG)
Abner called out to Joab, “Are we going to keep killing each other till doomsday? Don’t you know that nothing but bitterness will come from this? How long before you call off your men from chasing their brothers?” “As God lives,” said Joab, “if you hadn’t spoken up, we’d have kept up the chase until morning!” Then he blew the ram’s horn trumpet and the whole army of Judah stopped in its tracks. They quit chasing Israel and called off the fighting.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 King James Version (KJV)
Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers?” Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then the people would have gone away in the morning, each from following his brother.” So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and pursued Israel no longer, nor did they continue to fight anymore.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 New Century Version (NCV)
Abner shouted to Joab, “Must the sword kill forever? Surely you must know this will only end in sadness! Tell the people to stop chasing their own brothers!” Then Joab said, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said anything, the people would have chased their brothers until morning.” Then Joab blew a trumpet, and his people stopped chasing the Israelites. They did not fight them anymore.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 American Standard Version (ASV)
Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? And Joab said, As God liveth, if thou hadst not spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone away, nor followed every one his brother. So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 New International Version (NIV)
Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?” Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.” So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 New King James Version (NKJV)
Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren?” And Joab said, “As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then by morning all the people would have given up pursuing their brethren.” So Joab blew a trumpet; and all the people stood still and did not pursue Israel anymore, nor did they fight anymore.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Then Abner called to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long [will it be] before you tell the people to stop pursuing their brothers?” Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, then the people certainly would have stopped pursuing their brothers in the morning.” So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 New Living Translation (NLT)
Abner shouted down to Joab, “Must we always be killing each other? Don’t you realize that bitterness is the only result? When will you call off your men from chasing their Israelite brothers?” Then Joab said, “God only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t spoken, for we would have chased you all night if necessary.” So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men stopped chasing the troops of Israel.
2 Samuel 2:26-28 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.