Read the Bible

¹ AND there happened to be there a wicked man, whose name was Shamoa, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew a trumpet and said, We have no portion in David, neither have we an inheritance with the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!² So all the men of Israel ceased from following David, and followed Shamoa, the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah remained loyal to the king from the Jordan 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 his house and put them in custody and fed them, but did not go in unto them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, and were like widows.

⁴ Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and you yourself be present.⁵ So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah; but he tarried longer than the set time which had been appointed.⁶ And David said to Joab, Now Shamoa the son of Bichri will do us more harm than did Absalom; take your lords servants and pursue him, lest he find him fortified cities, and stay in them and incite a revolt against us.⁷ And there went out after him Joabs men, the noblemen and the army and all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Shamoa, the son of Bichri.⁸ When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. And Joab was wearing armor, and upon it was a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in its sheath; and as Amasa appeared, Joab placed his hand upon his sword.⁹ And Joab said to Amasa, Peace be with you, my brother. And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his hand to kiss him.¹⁰ But Amasa took no notice of the sword that was in Joabs hand; so Joab smote him with it in the middle of his body, and let out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Shamoa, the son of Bichri.¹¹ And one of Joabs men went and stood by Amasa, and said to those who passed by, To whom do you belong? Are you of the men of David who are after Joab?¹² And Amasa wallowed in his blood, lying in the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stopped to look at him, he dragged Amasa out of the highway and threw him into a field and cast a garment over him, when he saw that every one who came by him stopped.¹³ When he was dragged out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue Shamoa, the son of Bichri.

¹⁴ And they went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and to Beth-maachah and to Berin; and they went after him.¹⁵ And they came and besieged him in Abel and in Beth-maachah, and they set ambushes against the city, and the city was in distress; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down.¹⁶ Then a wise woman cried out from the wall, saying, Hear, hear, and say to Joab, Come near, that I may speak to you.¹⁷ And when he was come near to her, she said to him, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your maidservant. And he answered, I do hear.¹⁸ Then she said, They used to say in old time, They first inquire of the prophets, then they destroy.¹⁹ I am of those who have suffered the pangs of childbirth in Israel; you seek to destroy a child and his mother in Israel; why will you swallow up the heritage of the LORD?²⁰ And Joab answered and said to her, Far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy.²¹ The matter is not so; but a man of mount Ephraim, Shamoa, the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against King David; deliver him alive to me and I will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Now his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.²² Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Shamoa, the son of Bichri, and threw it out over the wall to Joab. And Joab blew the trumpet, and they withdrew from the city and departed every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

²³ Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the freedmen and the laborers,²⁴ And Adoniram was in charge of the tribute, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder,²⁵ And Sheriah was the scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.²⁶ And also Aza of Jathir was a priest to David.