¹ And there hath been called there a man of worthlessness, and his name [is] Sheba, son of Bichri, a Benjamite, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and saith, `We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; each to his tents, O Israel.'

² And every man of Israel goeth up from after David, after Sheba son of Bichri, and the men of Judah have cleaved to their king, from the Jordan even unto Jerusalem.

³ And David cometh in unto his house at Jerusalem, and the king taketh the ten women-concubines -- whom he had left to keep the house, and putteth them in a house of ward, and sustaineth them, and unto them he hath not gone in, and they are shut up unto the day of their death, in widowhood living.

⁴ And the king saith unto Amasa, `Call for me the men of Judah [in] three days, and thou, stand here,'

⁵ and Amasa goeth to call Judah, and tarrieth beyond the appointed time that he had appointed him;

⁶ and David saith unto Abishai, `Now doth Sheba son of Bichri do evil to us more than Absalom; thou, take the servants of thy lord, and pursue after him, lest he have found for himself fenced cities, and delivered himself [from] our eye.'

⁷ And the men of Joab go out after him, and the Cherethite, and the Pelethite, and all the mighty men, and they go out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri;

⁸ they [are] near the great stone that [is] in Gibeon, and Amasa hath gone before them, and Joab [is] girded; his long robe he hath put on him, and upon it a girdle -- a sword [is] fastened upon his loins in its sheath; and he hath gone out, and it falleth.

⁹ And Joab saith to Amasa, `Art thou [in] peace, my brother?' and the right hand of Joab layeth hold on the beard of Amasa to give a kiss to him;

¹⁰ and Amasa hath not been watchful of the sword that [is] in the hand of Joab, and he smiteth him with it unto the fifth [rib], and sheddeth out his bowels to the earth, and he hath not repeated [it] to him, and he dieth; and Joab and Abishai his brother have pursued after Sheba son of Bichri.

¹¹ And a man hath stood by him, of the young men of Joab, and saith, `He who hath delight in Joab, and he who [is] for David -- after Joab!'

¹² And Amasa is rolling himself in blood, in the midst of the highway, and the man seeth that all the people have stood still, and he bringeth round Amasa out of the highway to the field, and casteth over him a garment, when he hath seen that every one who hath come by him -- hath stood still.

¹³ When he hath been removed out of the highway, every man hath passed on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri.

¹⁴ And he passeth over through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth-Maachah, and to all the Berites, and they are assembled, and go in also after him,

¹⁵ and they go in and lay siege against him, in Abel of Beth-Maachah, and cast up a mount against the city, and it standeth in a trench, and all the people who are [are] with Joab are destroying, to cause the wall to fall.

¹⁶ And a wise woman calleth out of the city, `Hear, Hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, and I speak unto thee.'

¹⁷ And he cometh near unto her, and the woman saith, `Art thou Joab?' and he saith, `I [am].' And she saith to him, `Hear the words of thy handmaid;' and he saith, `I am hearing.'

¹⁸ and she speaketh, saying, `They spake often in former times, saying, Let them diligently ask at Abel, and so they finished.

¹⁹ I [am] of the peaceable -- faithful ones of Israel; thou art seeking to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel; why dost thou swallow up the inheritance of Jehovah?

²⁰ And Joab answereth and saith, `Far be it -- far be it from me; I do not swallow up nor destroy.

²¹ The matter [is] not so; for a man of the hill-country of Ephraim -- Sheba son of Bichri his name -- hath lifted up his hand against the king, against David; give ye up him by himself, and I go away from the city.' And the woman saith unto Joab, `Lo, his head is cast unto thee over the wall.'

²² And the woman cometh unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast [it] unto Joab, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and they are scattered from the city, each to his tents, and Joab hath turned back to Jerusalem unto the king.

²³ And Joab [is] over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada [is] over the Cherethite, and over the Pelethite,

²⁴ and Adoram [is] over the tribute, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud [is] the remembrancer,

²⁵ and Sheva [is] scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar [are] priests,

²⁶ and also, Ira the Jairite hath been minister to David.

¹ And Joab son of Zeruial knoweth that the heart of the king [is] on Absalom,

² and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, `Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead,

³ and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.

⁴ And the woman of Tekoah speaketh unto the king, and falleth on her face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and saith, `Save, O king.'

⁵ And the king saith to her, `What -- to thee?' and she saith, `Truly a widow woman [am] I, and my husband dieth,

⁶ and thy maid-servant hath two sons; and they strive both of them in a field, and there is no deliverer between them, and the one smiteth the other, and putteth him to death;

⁷ and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left -- so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.'

⁸ And the king saith unto the woman, `Go to thine house, and I give charge concerning thee.'

⁹ And the woman of Tekoah saith unto the king, `On me, my lord, O king, [is] the iniquity, and on the house of my father; and the king and his throne [are] innocent.'

¹⁰ And the king saith, `He who speaketh [aught] unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.'

¹¹ And she saith, `Let, I pray thee, the king remember by Jehovah thy God, that the redeemer of blood add not to destroy, and they destroy not my son;' and he saith, `Jehovah liveth; if there doth fall of the hair of thy son to the earth.'

¹² And the woman saith, `Let, I pray thee, thy maid-servant speak unto my lord the king a word;' and he saith, `speak.'

¹³ And the woman saith, `And why hast thou thought thus concerning the people of God? yea, the king is speaking this thing as a guilty one, in that the king hath not brought back his outcast;

¹⁴ for we do surely die, and [are] as water which is running down to the earth, which is not gathered, and God doth not accept a person, and hath devised devices in that the outcast is not outcast by Him.

¹⁵ `And now that I have come to speak unto the king my lord this word, [it is] because the people made me afraid, and thy maid-servant saith, Let me speak, I pray thee, unto the king; it may be the king doth do the word of his handmaid,

¹⁶ for the king doth hearken to deliver his handmaid out of the paw of the man [seeking] to destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God,

¹⁷ and thy maid-servant saith, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be for ease; for as a messenger of God so [is] my lord the king, to understand the good and the evil; and Jehovah thy God is with thee.'

¹⁸ And the king answereth and saith unto the woman, `Do not, I pray thee, hide from me the thing that I am asking thee;' and the woman saith, `Let, I pray thee, my lord the king speak.'

¹⁹ And the king saith, `Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this?' And the woman answereth and saith, `Thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, none [doth turn] to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servant Joab he commanded me, and he put in the mouth of thy maid-servant all these words;

²⁰ in order to bring round the appearance of the thing hath thy servant Joab done this thing, and my lord [is] wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of God, to know all that [is] in the land.'

²¹ And the king saith unto Joab, `Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.'

²² And Joab falleth on his face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and blesseth the king, and Joab saith, `To-day hath thy servant known that I have found grace in thine eyes, my lord, O king, in that the king hath done the word of his servant.'

²³ And Joab riseth and goeth to Geshur, and bringeth in Absalom to Jerusalem,

²⁴ and the king saith, `Let him turn round unto his house, and my face he doth not see.' And Absalom turneth round unto his house, and the face of the king he hath not seen.

²⁵ And like Absalom there was no man [so] fair in all Israel, to praise greatly; from the sole of his foot even unto his crown there was no blemish in him;

²⁶ and in his polling his head -- and it hath been at the end of year by year that he polleth [it], for it [is] heavy on him, and he hath polled it -- he hath even weighed out the hair of his head -- two hundred shekels by the king's weight.

²⁷ And there are born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter, and her name [is] Tamar; she was a woman of a fair appearance.

²⁸ And Absalom dwelleth in Jerusalem two years of days, and the face of the king he hath not seen;

²⁹ and Absalom sendeth unto Joab, to send him unto the king, and he hath not been willing to come unto him; and he sendeth again a second time, and he hath not been willing to come.

³⁰ And he saith unto his servants, `See, the portion of Joab [is] by the side of mine, and he hath barley there; go, and burn it with fire;' and the servants of Absalom burn the portion with fire.

³¹ And Joab riseth and cometh unto Absalom in the house, and saith unto him, `Why have thy servants burned the portion that I have with fire?'

³² And Absalom saith unto Joab, `Lo, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, and I send thee unto the king to say, Why have I Come in from Geshur? -- good for me while I [am] there -- and now, let me see the king's face, and if there is in me iniquity then thou hast put me to death.'

³³ And Joab cometh unto the king, and declareth [it] to him, and he calleth unto Absalom, and he cometh unto the king, and boweth himself to him, on his face, to the earth, before the king, and the king giveth a kiss to Absalom.