1And there happened to be there a man (ish) of belial, and his name was Sheba son of Bichri, a man (ish), a Benjamite; and he blew on the horn, and said, "We have no portion in David, and no inheritance for us in the son of Jesse; every man (ish) to his tents, O Israel!"
2And every man (ish) of Israel went up from after David, after Sheba son of Bichri; but the men (ish) of Judah clung to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
3And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women (ishah), the concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in a house of charge (mishmeret), and sustained them, but to them he did not go in; and they were shut up until the day of their death, in widowhood, alive.
4And the king said to Amasa, "Call together for me the men (ish) of Judah within three days, and you, stand here present."
5And Amasa went to call together Judah; but he tarried beyond the appointed time (moed) which he had appointed him.
6And David said to Abishai, "Now Sheba son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; you, take the servants of your lord and pursue after him, lest he find for himself fortified cities and deliver himself from our eye."
7And there went out after him the men (ish) of Joab, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri.
8They were by the great stone which is in Gibeon, and Amasa came before them. And Joab was girded with his garment, his clothing, and upon it a belt with a sword fastened upon his loins in its sheath; and as he went out it fell.
9And Joab said to Amasa, "Is it well with you, my brother?" And Joab's right hand took hold of Amasa's beard to kiss him.
10But Amasa was not on guard against the sword that was in Joab's hand; and he struck him with it in the belly, and poured out his bowels to the ground, and did not strike him again; and he died. And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba son of Bichri.
11And a man (ish) of Joab's young men stood over him, and said, "Whoever delights in Joab, and whoever is for David, after Joab!"
12And Amasa was wallowing in the blood in the midst of the highway; and the man (ish) saw that all the people stood still, and he turned Amasa aside from the highway to the field, and cast a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.
13When he was removed from the highway, every man (ish) passed on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri.
14And he passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they were gathered together and came also after him.
15And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were battering the wall, to throw it down.
16And a wise woman (ishah) called out from the city, "Hear, hear! Say, please, to Joab: Come near to here, that I may speak to you."
17And he came near to her; and the woman (ishah) said, "Are you Joab?" And he said, "I am." And she said to him, "Hear the words of your handmaid." And he said, "I am listening."
18And she spoke, saying, "They used to speak in former times, saying, 'Let them surely ask at Abel,' and so they would settle a matter.
19I am of the peaceable, faithful ones of Israel; you seek to put to death a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of YHWH?"
20And Joab answered and said, "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.
21The matter is not so; but a man (ish) from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri is his 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 (ishah) said to Joab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall."
22And the woman (ishah) came to all the people in her wisdom; and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab; and he blew on the horn, and they were scattered from the city, every man (ish) to his tents; and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
23And Joab was over all the host of Israel; and Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites 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 a priest to David.