1   There happened to be a man there, a scoundrel named Sheba son of Bichri, a man of Benjamin. He blew the trumpet and cried out:

  What share have we in David?
    We have no lot in the son of Jesse.
  Away to your homes, O Israel.

2   The men of Israel all left David, to follow Sheba son of Bichri, but the men of Judah stood by their king and followed him from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

3   When David came home to Jerusalem he took the ten concubines whom he had left in charge of the palace and put them under guard; he maintained them but did not have intercourse with them. They were kept in confinement to the day of their death, widowed in the prime of life.

4   The king said to Amasa, ‘Call up the men of Judah and appear before me again in three days' time.’ 5   So Amasa went to call up the men

Various events of David's reign of Judah, but it took longer than the time fixed by the king. 6   David said to Abishai, ‘Sheba son of Bichri will give us more trouble than Absalom; take the royal bodyguard and follow him closely. If he has occupied some fortified cities, he may escape us.’ 7   Abishai was followed by Joab ^note with the Kerethite and Pelethite guards and all the fighting men; they left Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri. 8   When they reached the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came towards them. Joab was wearing his tunic and over it a belt supporting a sword in its scabbard. 9   He came forward, concealing his treachery, and said to Amasa, ‘I hope you are well, my brother’, and with his right hand he grasped Amasa's beard to kiss him. 10   Amasa was not on his guard against the sword in Joab's hand. Joab struck him with it in the belly and his entrails poured out to the ground; he did not strike a second blow, for Amasa was dead. Joab and his brother Abishai went on in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri. 11   One of Joab's young men stood over Amasa and called out, ‘Follow Joab, all who are for Joab and for David!’ 12   Amasa's body lay soaked in blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw how all the people stopped, he rolled him off the road into the field and threw a cloak over him; for everyone who came by saw the body and stopped. 13   When he had been dragged from the road, they all went on after Joab in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri.

14   Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel until he came to Abel-beth-maacah, ^note and all the clan of Bichri ^note rallied to him and followed him into the city. 15   Joab's forces came up and besieged him in Abel-beth-maacah, raised a siege-ramp against it and began undermining the wall to bring it down. 16   Then a wise woman stood on the rampart ^note and called from the city, ‘Listen, listen! Tell Joab to step forward and let me speak with him.’ 17   So he came forward and the woman said, ‘Are you Joab?’ He answered, ‘I am.’ ‘Listen to what I have to say, sir’, she went on, to which he replied, ‘I am listening.’ 18   ‘In the old days’, she said, ‘there was a saying, “Go to Abel for the answer”, and that settled the matter. 19   My city is known to be one of the most peaceable and loyal ^note in Israel; she is like a watchful mother in Israel, and you are seeking to kill her. 20   Would you destroy the Lord's own possession?’ Joab answered, ‘God forbid, far be it from me to ruin or destroy! 21   That is not our aim; but a man from the hill-country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bichri has raised a revolt against King David; surrender this one man, and I will retire from the city.’ The woman said to Joab, ‘His head shall be thrown to you over the wall.’ 22   Then the woman withdrew, and her

Various events of David's reign wisdom won over the assembled people; they cut off Sheba's head and threw it to Joab. Then he sounded the trumpet and the whole army left the city and dispersed to their homes, while Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.

23    ^noteJoab was in command of the army, ^note and Benaiah son of Jehoiada commanded the Kerethite and Pelethite guards. 24   Adoram was in charge of the forced levy, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary of state. 25   Sheva was adjutant-general, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26   Ira the Jairite was David's priest.

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