(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
1
A good-for-nothing man by the name of Sheba, Bichri's son, from the tribe of Benjamin happened to be at Gilgal. He blew a ram's horn [to announce], "We have no share in David's kingdom. We won't receive an inheritance from Jesse's son. Everyone to his own tent, Israel!"
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
2
So all the people of Israel left David to follow Sheba, Bichri's son. But the people of Judah remained loyal to their king [on his way] from the Jordan River to Jerusalem.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
3
When David came to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to look after the palace and put them in a house under guard. He provided for them but no longer slept with them. So they lived like widows in confinement until they died.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
4
The king told Amasa, "Call the people of Judah together for me, and in three days be here yourself."
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
5
Amasa went to call Judah together, but he took longer to do it than David had given him.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
6
David then told Abishai, "Sheba, son of Bichri, will do us more harm than Absalom. Take my men and go after him, or he will find some fortified cities and take the best ones for himself."
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
7
So Joab's men, the Cherethites, Pelethites, and all the soldiers went with Abishai. They left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, Bichri's son.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
8
When they were at the large rock in Gibeon, Amasa met them there. Joab wore a military uniform, and strapped over it at his hip was a sword in a scabbard. As he stepped forward, the sword dropped [into his hand].
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
9
"How are you, my brother?" Joab asked Amasa. He took hold of Amasa's beard with his right hand to kiss him.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
10
Amasa wasn't on his guard against the sword in Joab's [left] hand. Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and his intestines poured out on the ground. (He died without being stabbed again.) Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba, son of Bichri.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
11
One of Joab's young men stood beside Amasa and said, "Anyone who favors Joab and is on David's side should follow Joab."
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
12
Amasa was wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road. When the man saw that all the troops stopped as they came to the body, he carried Amasa from the road to the field and threw a sheet over him.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
13
As soon as he was moved from the road, everyone followed Joab and pursued Sheba, Bichri's son.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
14
Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel (Beth Maacah). All the Berites were gathered together and followed him to the city.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
15
Joab's army came and attacked him in Abel (Beth Maacah). They put up a dirt ramp against the city, and it stood level with the outer wall. All the troops with Joab were trying to destroy the wall and tear it down.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
16
Then a clever woman called from the city, "Listen, listen! Tell Joab to come here so that I can talk to him."
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
17
He came near, and she asked, "Are you Joab?" "I am," he answered. "Listen to what I have to say," she told him. "I'm listening," he answered.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
18
So she said, "There's an old saying: 'Be sure to ask at Abel [before doing anything]. That's the way they settle matters.'
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
19
We are peaceful and faithful Israelites. Are you trying to destroy a mother city in Israel? Why should you swallow up what belongs to the LORD?"
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
20
Joab answered, "That's unthinkable! I don't wish to swallow [it] up or destroy [it].
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
21
That isn't the case. A man from the mountains of Ephraim by the name of Sheba, son of Bichri, has rebelled against King David. Give him to me, and I'll withdraw from the city." "That's fine," the woman told Joab. "His head will be thrown to you from the wall."
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
22
Then the woman went to all the people with her clever plan. They cut off Sheba's head and threw it to Joab. He blew the ram's horn, and everyone scattered and withdrew from the city and went home. Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
23
Now, Joab was put in charge of Israel's whole army. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was in charge of the Cherethites and Pelethites.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
24
Adoram was in charge of forced labor. Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was the royal historian.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
25
Sheva was the royal scribe. Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
(GWT)
2 Samuel
20
:
26
And Ira, a descendant of Jair, was a priest to David.