| Chapter
20 |
| 1 | And
there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of
Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David,
neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O
Israel. |
| 2 | So every man of
Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the
men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. |
| 3 | And David came to his house at
Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to
keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them.
So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. |
| 4 | Then said the king to Amasa,
Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present. |
| 5 | So Amasa went to assemble
the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had
appointed him. |
| 6 | And
David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than
did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get
him fenced cities, and escape us. |
|
7 | And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and
the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to
pursue 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 unto him, and
upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof;
and as he went forth it fell out. |
|
9 | And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab
took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. |
| 10 | But Amasa took no heed to the sword
that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed
out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab
and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. |
| 11 | And one of Joab's men stood by him,
and said, He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after
Joab. |
| 12 | And Amasa
wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all
the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and
cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood
still. |
| 13 | When he was
removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after
Sheba the son of Bichri. |
| 14 |
And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah,
and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after
him. |
| 15 | And they came
and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the
city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab
battered the wall, to throw it down. |
|
16 | Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray
you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. |
| 17 | And when he was come near unto her,
the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto
him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. |
| 18 | Then she spake, saying, They were
wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and
so they ended the matter. |
| 19 |
I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to
destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance
of the LORD? |
| 20 | And Joab
answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or
destroy. |
| 21 | The matter
is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath
lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and
I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head
shall be thrown to thee over the wall. |
| 22 | Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom.
And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab.
And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent.
And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king. |
| 23 | Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites: |
| 24 | And Adoram was over the
tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder: |
| 25 | And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and
Abiathar were the priests: |
| 26
| And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David. |
