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a scoundrel named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted,
“We have no portion in David,
no inheritance in Jesse’s son!
Every man to his tent, O Israel!”
2 So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah remained loyal to their king, from the Jordan all the way to Jerusalem.
3 When David came to his palace at Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines whom he had left to take care of the palace and placed them under guard. Although he provided for them, he did not go in to them. They remained in confinement, living as widows, until the day of their death.
4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me, and be here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time set for him.
6 David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bichri will do more harm to us than Absalom did. Take your lord’s men and pursue him, before he finds a fortified city and escapes from us.” 7 So Joab’s men and the Cherethites, Pelethites, and all the warriors marched out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
8 While they were at the large rock at Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his military tunic, and strapped at his waist was a belt with a sword in its sheath. As he approached Amasa, it fell out of its sheath.
9 Joab said to Amasa, “Are you well, my brother?” Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 But Amasa was not on his guard against the sword in Joab’s hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, spilling out his intestines to the ground. Joab did not strike Amasa again, for he was already dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
11 One of Joab’s men stood over Amasa and said, “Whoever favours Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12 Amasa lay in the middle of the road, drenched in his own blood, and the man saw that all the troops were stopping there. So he dragged Amasa’s body from the road into a field, and covered it with a garment. 13 Once Amasa had been removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
14 Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth-maacah. All the Bichrites came together and followed him. 15 Joab and all his troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth-maacah. They built a siege ramp against the city, and it stood against the rampart. While Joab and all the troops were battering the wall to break it down, 16 a wise woman cried out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so I can speak with him.” 17 When he had come near her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”
“I am,” he replied.
She said, “Listen to the words of your maidservant.”
“I’m listening,” he said.
18 She said, “In earlier times they would say, ‘Let them inquire at Abel’, and so they would settle disputes. 19 I am one of those who is peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is like a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?”
20 Joab answered, “Never! Far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not the case at all! There is a certain man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri by name, who has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver this one man, and I will withdraw from the city.”
The woman said to David, “His head will be thrown over the wall to you.”
22 Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut of the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king at Jerusalem.
23 Joab was in command of the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 Adoram was in charge of forced labour; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 Sheva was the court secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.