Joab replied to the man who was telling him this, “What! You saw this? Why didn’t you strike him down right on the spot? ¹  I would have given you ten pieces of silver ²  and a commemorative belt!” ³ 

Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. ¹ 

But Joab said to him, “You will not be a bearer of good news today. You will bear good news some other day, but not today, ¹  for the king’s son is dead.”

The king replied, “How is the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was all about.”

Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my flesh and blood? ¹  God will punish me severely, ²  if from this time on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

When he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He replied, “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” He said, “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ¹  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ² 

Joab reported the number of warriors ¹  to the king. In Israel there were 800,000 sword-wielding warriors, and in Judah there were 500,000 soldiers.

He has sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon.

Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the commotion just as they had finished eating. ¹  When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, “Why is there such a noisy commotion in the city?” ² 

May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, ¹  and his dynasty.” ² 

During David’s campaign against Edom, ¹  Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom.

While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away ¹  and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave ²  so I can return to my homeland.”

¹  David said, “Whoever attacks ²  the Jebusites first will become commanding general!” ³  So Joab son of Zeruiah attacked ⁴  first and became commander. ⁵ 

Abishai the brother of Joab was head of the three ¹  elite warriors. He killed three hundred men with his spear ²  and gained fame along with the three elite warriors. ³ 

When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans. ¹ 

David told Joab and the leaders of the army, ¹  “Go, count the number of warriors ²  from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have.” ³ 

They were also in charge of everything dedicated by Samuel the prophet, ¹  Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah; Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of everything that had been dedicated.

The fourth, assigned the fourth month, was Asahel, brother of Joab; his son Zebadiah succeeded him. ¹  His division consisted of 24,000 men.

Joab son of Zeruiah started to count the men but did not finish. God was angry with Israel ¹  because of this, so the number was not recorded in the scroll ²  called The Annals of King David.