2 Samuel 20

Sheba’s revolt

¹Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, happened to be there. \q He blew the trumpet and cried out, \q “We have no part in David, \q no inheritance in Jesse’s son! \q Each man to his tents, Israel!” ²So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah kept close to their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem. ³When David came back to his palace in Jerusalem, the king took the ten concubines he had left to look after the palace and placed them under guard in a house. He supplied their needs, but he did not sleep with them. They were kept shut away until the day they died, living as widows while their husband was alive.^a

⁴The king told Amasa, “Call up the men of Judah and have them with me within three days, and be here yourself.” ⁵Amasa went to call up Judah, but he was delayed past the time the king had set for him.

⁶David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bichri will now hurt us worse than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and go after him, or he will find fortified cities for himself and slip out of our sight.”^{b 7}So Joab’s men went out after Abishai, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites and all the warriors. They marched out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri. ⁸When they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was dressed in his soldier’s tunic, and over it he wore a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened at his waist. As he stepped forward, the sword fell out.^c

Joab kills Amasa

⁹Joab said to Amasa, “Are you well, my brother?” Then with his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa’s beard to kiss him. ¹⁰Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his insides on the ground. He did not have to strike him a second time, and Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai went on in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri. ¹¹One of Joab’s young men stood beside Amasa’s body and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is on David’s side, follow Joab!” ¹²Amasa lay in a pool of his own blood in the middle of the road. When the man saw that all the troops were stopping, he dragged Amasa off the road into a field and threw a cloak over him, because he saw that everyone who came by him stopped. ¹³Once Amasa had been moved off the road, all the men went on after Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri. ¹⁴Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel as far as Abel Beth-maacah. All the Berites gathered and followed him there as well.^{d 15}Joab’s forces came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth-maacah. They piled up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart. All the troops with Joab were battering the wall to bring it down. ¹⁶Then a wise woman in the city called out, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, please, ‘Come over here so I can speak with you.’” ¹⁷He came near to her, and the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he answered. She said to him, “Listen to what your servant has to say.” “I am listening,” he replied. ¹⁸She went on, “Long ago people used to say, ‘Go and ask in Abel,’ and that is how they settled things.^{e 19}I am one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You are out to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why should you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?”

²⁰Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! ²¹That is not how it is. A man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bichri has raised his hand against the king, against David. Hand him over, him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “You will see: his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” ²²Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they beheaded Sheba son of Bichri and tossed his head out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and his men left the city and scattered, each to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.

David’s officials

²³Joab was commander of all Israel’s army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; ²⁴Adoram was over the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; ²⁵Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ²⁶and Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest.