Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons were Abshai, ¹  Joab, and Asahel.

Joab son of Zeruiah was general in command of ¹  the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary;

He collaborated ¹  with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported ²  him. ³ 

Joab son of Zeruiah was commanding general of ¹  the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary;

Now Joab son of Zeruiah realized that the king longed to see ¹  Absalom.

Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (the armor-bearer ¹  of Joab son of Zeruiah),

Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,

Abishai son of Zeruiah ¹  killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

The three sons of Zeruiah were there – Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field.)

Abishai son of Zeruiah replied, “For this should not Shimei be put to death? After all, he cursed the Lord’s anointed!”

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 

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.

David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” Abishai replied, “I will go down with you.”

Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and confronted them at the pool of Gibeon. One group stationed themselves on one side of the pool, and the other group on the other side of the pool.

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 

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

But the king said, “What do we have in common, ¹  you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this?’”

Absalom had made Amasa general in command of the army in place of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of an Israelite man named Jether, who had married ¹  Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.)

But David said, “What do we have in common, ¹  you sons of Zeruiah? You are like my enemy today! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don’t you realize that today I am king over Israel?”

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