¹And there, by chance, was a worthless man, whose name was Sheba son of Bicri, a Jaminite man; and he blew a blast on the horn and said, “There is no portion for us in David, and no inheritance for us in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel!”

²So every man of Israel went up from after David, after Sheba son of Bicri; but the men of Judah clung to their king from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

³And David came to his house at Jerusalem. The king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in a house under guard, and sustained them, but he did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living in widowhood.

⁴And the king said to Amasa, “Call out to me the men of Judah within three days, and you, stand here.”

⁵And Amasa went to call out Judah, but he was delayed beyond the appointed time that he had appointed for him.

⁶And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bicri will be worse for us than Absalom. You, take your lord’s slaves and pursue after him, lest he find fortified cities for himself and snatch himself away from our eyes.”

⁷And Joab’s men went out after him, and the Kerethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba son of Bicri.

⁸They were by the great stone that is in Gibeon, and Amasa came before them. Now Joab was girded in his garment, his clothing, and over it a belt with a sword fastened on his loins in its sheath; and as he went forward, it fell.

⁹And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it wholeness with you, my brother?” And the right hand of Joab took hold of the beard of Amasa to kiss him.

¹⁰But Amasa was not on guard against the sword that was in the hand of Joab; and he struck him with it in the belly, and poured out his bowels to the land, and did not repeat it on him; and he died. And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba son of Bicri.

¹¹And a man stood over him, one of Joab’s lads, and said, “Whoever delights in Joab, and whoever is David’s, let him go after Joab!”

¹²Now Amasa was rolling in the blood in the middle of the highway; and the man saw that all the people stood still, and he turned Amasa from the highway into the field, and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came upon him stood still.

¹³When he had thrust him away from the highway, every man passed on after Joab to pursue after Sheba son of Bicri.

¹⁴And he passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maacah, and all the Berites; and they gathered and went in also after him.

¹⁵And they came and besieged it in Abel Beth Maacah, and poured out a mound against the city, and it stood by the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were ruining it, to bring down the wall.

¹⁶And a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please say to Joab, ‘Come near to here, and let me speak to you.’”

¹⁷And he drew near to her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he said, “I am.” And she said to him, “Listen to the words of your maidservant.” And he said, “I am listening.”

¹⁸And she said, “They used to speak at first, saying, ‘Let them surely ask at Abel’; and so they finished.”

¹⁹I am one of the peaceful, the faithful of Israel; you are seeking to put to death a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow down the inheritance of Yahweh?”

²⁰And Joab answered and said, “Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow down or that I should ruin!

²¹The word is not so; for a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bicri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Give him alone, and I will go away from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Look, his head will be thrown to you from behind the wall.”

²²Then the woman came to all the people in her wisdom; and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bicri and threw it to Joab. And he blew a blast on the horn, and they were scattered from the city, each to his tents. And Joab returned to Jerusalem, to the king.

²³Now Joab was over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and over the Pelethites,

²⁴and Adoram was over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder.

²⁵and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests,

²⁶and also Ira the Jairite was priest to David.