The Second Book of Samuel Otherwise Called The Second Book of the Kings 20

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¹ And there happened to be there a man of Belial whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri a Benjamite and he blew a trumpet and said We have no part in David neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse every man to his tents O Israel ⚑

² So every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri but the men of Judah clave unto their king from Jordan even 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 the house and put them in ward and fed them but went not in unto them So they were shut up unto the day of their death living in widowhood ⚑

⁴ Then said the king to Amasa Assemble me the men of Judah within three days and be thou here present ⚑

⁵ So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him ⚑

⁷ And there went out after him Joab’s men and the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri ⚑

⁸ When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon Amasa went before them And Joab’s garment that he had put on was girded unto him and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof and as he went forth it fell out ⚑

⁹ And Joab said to Amasa Art thou in health my brother And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him ⚑

¹⁰ But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the ground and struck him not again and he died So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri ⚑

¹¹ And one of Joab’s men stood by him and said He that favoureth Joab and he that is for David let him go after Joab ⚑

¹² And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway And when the man saw that all the people stood still he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field and cast a cloth upon him when he saw that every one that came by him stood still ⚑

¹⁴ And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel and to Beth-maachah and all the Berites and they were gathered together and went also after him ⚑

¹⁵ And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maachah and they cast up a bank against the city and it stood in the trench and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down ⚑

¹⁶ Then cried a wise woman out of the city Hear hear say I pray you unto Joab Come near hither that I may speak with thee ⚑

¹⁷ And when he was come near unto her the woman said Art thou Joab And he answered I am he Then she said unto him Hear the words of thine handmaid And he answered I do hear ⚑

¹⁸ Then she spake saying They were wont to speak in old time saying They shall surely ask counsel at Abel and so they ended the matter ⚑

¹⁹ I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD ⚑

²⁰ And Joab answered and said Far be it far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy ⚑

²¹ The matter is not so but a man of mount Ephraim Sheba the son of Bichri by name hath lifted up his hand against the king even against David deliver him only and I will depart from the city And the woman said unto Joab Behold his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall ⚑

²² Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and cast it out to Joab And he blew a trumpet and they retired from the city every man to his tent And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king ⚑

²³ Now Joab was over all the host of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites ⚑

²⁶ And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David ⚑

King James Version (1769) with Apocrypha · Crosswire Bible Society / eBible.org (standard text of 1769) · Public Domain

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · public domain