2 Samuel 20
Revised Geneva Translation
20 Then a wicked man came there named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a man of Benjamin. And he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no part in David! Nor have we inheritance in the son of Ishai! Every man to his tent, O Israel!”
2 So every man of Israel went from David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah clung fast to their king, from Jordan to Jerusalem.
3 Then, when David came to his house, to Jerusalem, the king took the ten women (his concubines) whom he had left behind him to keep the house and put them in ward and fed them. But he no longer lay with them. But they were enclosed until the days of their deaths, living in widowhood.
4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days. And be present here yourself.”
5 So Amasa went to assemble Judah. But he took longer than the time which had been appointed to him.
6 Then David said to Abishai, “Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and follow after him, lest he get himself walled cities and escapes us.”
7 And Joab’s men went out after him, and also the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men. And they departed out of Jerusalem, to follow after Sheba the son of Bichri.
8 When they were at the great stone (which is in Gibeon), Amasa went before them. And Joab’s garment that he had put on was girded to him. And upon it was a sword, girded, which hung on his loins in the sheath. And as he went, it would fall out.
9 And Joab said to Amasa, “Are you in good health, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand, to kiss him.
10 But Amasa took no notice of the sword that was in Joab’s hand. For with it, he struck him in the fifth rib, and poured out his bowels to the ground, and did not strike him a second time. So, he died. Then Joab and Abishai, his brother, followed after Sheba the son of Bichri.
11 And one of Joab’s men stood by him, and said, “He who favors Joab, and he who is of David’s part, let him get behind Joab.”
12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the road, into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, because he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.
13 When he was removed out of the road, every man got behind Joab, to follow after Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel: to Abel and Beth Maachah and all of Berim. And they gathered together and also got behind him.
15 So they came and besieged him in Abel, near Beth Maachah. And they cast up a siege mount against the city. And its people stood on the rampart. And all the people who were with Joab destroyed and cast down the wall.
16 Then a wise woman cried out of the city, “Hear! Hear! Please say to Joab, ‘Come here, so that I may speak with you.’”
17 And when he came near to her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he answered, “Yes.” And she said to him, “Hear the words of your handmaid.” And he answered, “I do hear.”
18 Then she spoke this: “They spoke in the old time, saying, ‘They should ask of Abel.’ And so, they have continued.
19 “I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. And you go about to destroy a city, and a mother, in Israel. Why will you devour the inheritance of the LORD?”
20 And Joab answered, and said, “May it never be! May it never be that I should devour or destroy it!”
21 “The matter is not so! But a man of Mount Ephraim (Sheba the son of Bichri, by name) has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver only him to us, and I will depart from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.”
22 Then the woman went, with her wisdom, to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and cast it to Joab. Then he blew the trumpet and they retreated from the city, each man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem, to the king.
23 Then Joab was over all the army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites,
24 and Adoram over the tribute, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud the Recorder.
25 And Sheva was Scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
26 And also, Ira the Jairite was chief minister to David.
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