There happened to be there ^1aa worthless and wicked man named Sheba the son of ^bBichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet to call Israel to revolt and said,“^cWe have no portion in DavidAnd no inheritance in ^dthe son of Jesse,^eEvery man to his tents, O Israel!” 2 So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah stayed faithfully with their king, from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

3 Then David came to his house (palace) at Jerusalem, and ^athe king took the ten women, his ¹concubines whom he had left to take care of the house, and placed them under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were confined, and lived as widows until the day of their death.

4 Now the king said to ^aAmasa the commander of his army, “Summon the fighting men of Judah to me within three days, and be present here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to summon the fighting men of Judah, but he ^adelayed longer than the time which David had set for him. 6 And David said to ^aAbishai his nephew, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom did. ^bTake your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find fortified cities for himself and ¹escape from our sight.” 7 So Joab’s men went after him, along with David’s bodyguards ^athe Cherethites and Pelethites and all the warriors; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When they were at the great stone in ^aGibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing his military uniform, and over it he had a belt with a sheathed sword strapped around his hips; and as he went forward, ¹it fell out. 9 Joab said to Amasa, “Is it going well with you, my ¹brother?” And with his right hand ^aJoab took hold of Amasa by the beard as if to kiss him in greeting.

10 But Amasa who had replaced Joab as David’s commander was off guard and not attentive to the sword in Joab’s hand. So Joab ^astruck Amasa in the abdomen with the sword, spilling his intestines to the ground. Without another blow Amasa died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11 Now one of Joab’s young men stood by him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and is for David, ^alet him follow Joab!” 12 But Amasa was wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people who came by stopped to look, he moved Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by Amasa stopped.

13 When the body of Amasa was removed from the highway, everyone followed after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

14 Now Joab went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and also went after Sheba. 15 And ¹the army of Joab came and besieged Sheba in ^aAbel Beth-maacah, and ^bthey built up an ²assault ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction to make the wall fall. 16 Then ^aa wise woman cried out from the city, “Hear, hear! Tell Joab, ‘Come here so that I may speak to you.’” 17 So when he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your maidservant.” He answered, “I am listening.” 18 Then she said, “In the past people used to say, ‘They will certainly ask advice at Abel,’ and so they settled the dispute. 19 I am one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. ^aYou are seeking to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up (devour) ^bthe inheritance of the LORD?” 20 Joab answered, “Far be it, far be it from me that I would swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not true. But a man of ^athe hill country of Ephraim, ^bSheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand in rebellion against King David. Only hand him over, and I will leave the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman in her ^awisdom went to all the people to inform them of the agreement. And they beheaded Sheba the son of Bichri and threw his head down to Joab. So ^bhe blew the trumpet signaling the end of the attack, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his own tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to David the king. Eccl 9:13-16

23 ^aNow Joab was commander over the entire army of Israel; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was commander over the Cherethites and Pelethites the king’s bodyguards; 24 Adoram was over the forced labor; ^aJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 25 Sheva was the scribe; and Zadok and ^aAbiathar were priests; 26 also Ira the Jairite was a priest to David.