The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of ¹  the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place. ² 

So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ¹  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ² 

The man replied to Joab, “Even if ¹  I were receiving ²  a thousand pieces of silver, ³  I would not strike ⁴  the king’s son! In our very presence ⁵  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ⁶ 

That’s not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri. He has rebelled ¹  against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city.” The woman said to Joab, “This very minute ²  his head will be thrown over the wall to you!”

But he said, ¹  “Whatever happens, I want to go!” So Joab ²  said to him, “Then go!” So Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Jordan plain, and he passed the Cushite.

“You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me – how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. ¹  During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle; ²  when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet. ³ 

Joab ¹  said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, ²  you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, ³  I will come to your rescue.

Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent a message to you saying, ‘Come here so that I can send you to the king with this message: ¹  “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.”’ Let me now see the face of the king. If I am at fault, let him put me to death!”

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ²  a prayer ³  of David written to instruct others. ⁴  It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down ⁵  12,000 Edomites ⁶  in the Valley of Salt. ⁷  O God, you have rejected us. ⁸  You suddenly turned on us in your anger. ⁹  Please restore us!

Joab ¹  said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, ²  you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, ³  I will come to your rescue.

Amasa was squirming in his own blood in the middle of the path, and this man had noticed that all the soldiers stopped. Having noticed that everyone who came across Amasa ¹  stopped, the man ²  pulled him ³  away from the path and into the field and threw a garment over him.

For today he has gone down and sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. At this moment ¹  they are having a feast ²  in his presence, and they have declared, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ³ 

He put his brother Abishai in charge of the rest of the army ¹  and they were deployed ²  against the Ammonites.

In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”

Sheba ¹  traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of ²  Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, ³  they too joined him.

Today I am weak, even though I am anointed as king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too much for me to bear! ¹  May the Lord punish appropriately the one who has done this evil thing!” ² 

May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; ¹  behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he ²  – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.