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Now ^(C1)a worthless man happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of ^(C2)Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet and said, "^(C3)We have no share in David, Nor do we have an inheritance in ^(C4)the son of Jesse; ^(C5)Every man to his tents, Israel!"

So all the men of Israel ^(F1)withdrew from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah ^(F2)remained loyal to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

Then David came to his house in Jerusalem, and ^(C1)the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left behind to take care of the house, and put them in custody and provided them with food, but did not ^(F1)have relations with them. So they were locked up until the day of their death, living as widows.

Now the king said to ^(C1)Amasa, "Summon the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself."

So Amasa went to summon the men of Judah, but he was ^(C1)delayed longer than the set time which he had designated for him.

And David said to ^(C1)Abishai, "Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; ^(C2)take your lord's servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight."

So Joab's men went out after him, ^(C1)along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors; and they left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

When they were at the large stone which is in ^(C1)Gibeon, Amasa came ^(F1)to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it he had a belt with a sword in its sheath strapped on at his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out.

And Joab said to Amasa, "Is it going well for you, my brother?" And ^(C1)Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab's hand, so ^(C1)he struck him in the belly with it and spilled out his intestines on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

Now one of Joab's young men stood by him and said, "Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, ^(C1)follow Joab!"

But Amasa was wallowing in his own blood in the middle of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa from the road to the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

As soon as he was removed from the road, all the men went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

Now he went on through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, that is, Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and went after him as well.

And they came and besieged him in ^(C1)Abel Beth-maacah, and ^(C2)they ^(F1)built up an assault ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall.

Then ^(C1)a wise woman called out from the city, "Listen, listen! Please tell Joab, 'Come here that I may speak with you.'"

So he approached her, and the woman said, "Are you Joab?" And he answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your slave." And he said, "I am listening."

Then she spoke, saying, "In the past they used to say, 'They will undoubtedly ask advice at Abel,' and that is how they ended a dispute.

"I am one of those who are ready for peace and faithful in Israel. ^(C1)You are trying to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up ^(C2)the inheritance of the LORD?"

Joab replied, "Far be it, far be it from me that I would consume or destroy!

"Such is not the case. But a man from ^(C1)the hill country of Ephraim, ^(C2)Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has raised his hand against King David. Only turn him over, and I will depart from the city." And the woman said to Joab, "Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall."

Then the woman ^(C1)wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So ^(C2)he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.

^(C1)Now Joab was in command of the entire army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites;

and Adoram was over the forced labor, and ^(C1)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary;

and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and ^(C1)Abiathar were priests;

Ira the Jairite also was a priest to David.

Now there was ^(C1)a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and ^(C2)David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, "It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death."

So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and ^(C1)the sons of Israel had ^(F1)made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to ^(F2)kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah).

David said to the Gibeonites, "What should I do for you? And how can I make amends, so that you will bless ^(C1)the inheritance of the LORD?"

Then the Gibeonites said to him, "^(C1)For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel." Nevertheless David said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

So they said to the king, "^(C1)The man who destroyed us and who planned ^(F1)to eliminate us so that we would not exist within any border of Israel—

let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will ^(F1)hang them ^(C1)before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, ^(C2)the chosen of the LORD." And the king said, "I will give them."

But the king spared ^(C1)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, ^(C2)because of the oath of the LORD which was between them, between David and Saul's son Jonathan.

So the king took the two sons of ^(C1)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of ^(F1)(C2)Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the ^(C3)Meholathite.

Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they ^(F1)hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at ^(C1)the beginning of barley harvest.

^(C1)And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until ^(F1)it rained on them from the sky; and ^(C2)she ^(F2)allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night.

When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

then David went and took ^(C1)the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of ^(C2)Beth-shan, ^(C3)where the Philistines had hanged them on the day ^(C4)the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa.

He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been ^(F1)hanged.

Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in ^(C1)Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; so they did everything that the king commanded, and after that ^(C2)God responded to prayer for the land.

Now when ^(C1)the Philistines were at war with Israel again, David went down, and his servants with him; and when they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.

Then Ishbi-benob, who was ^(C1)among the descendants of the ^(F1)giant, the weight of whose spear was ^(F2)three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, ^(F3)had strapped on a new sword, and he ^(F4)intended to kill David.

But ^(C1)Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, saying, "^(C2)You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish ^(C3)the lamp of Israel."

^(C1)Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then ^(C2)Sibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the ^(F1)giant.

And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite ^(F1)killed ^(F2)Goliath the Gittite, ^(C1)the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

And there was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born ^(C1)to the ^(F1)giant.

When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck and killed him.

^(C1)These four were born to the ^(F1)giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.