2 Samuel 20–21

SHEBA’S REVOLT

20Now a wicked man, a Benjaminite named Sheba son of Bichri, happened to be there. He blew the trumpet and shouted:

We have no portion in David,

no inheritance in Jesse’s son.

Each man to his tent,^D Israel!

²So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bichri, but the men of Judah from the Jordan all the way to Jerusalem remained loyal to their king.^d

³When David came to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and placed them under guard.^e He provided for them, but he was not intimate with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.

⁴The king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to me within three days and be here yourself.” ⁵Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him. ⁶So David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bichri will do more harm to us than Absalom. Take your lord’s soldiers and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”^A

⁷So Joab’s men, the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors marched out under Abishai’s command;^B they left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri. ⁸They were at the great stone in Gibeon when Amasa joined them. Joab was wearing his uniform and over it was a belt around his waist with a sword in its sheath. As he approached, the sword fell out. ⁹Joab asked Amasa, “Are you well, my brother?” Then with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.^{f 10}Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his intestines out on the ground. Joab did not stab him again, and Amasa died.^g

Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri. ¹¹One of Joab’s young men had stood over Amasa saying, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!” ¹²Now Amasa had been writhing in his blood in the middle of the highway, and the man had seen that all the troops stopped. So he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him because he realized that all those who encountered Amasa were stopping.^{* 13}When he was removed from the highway, all the men passed by and followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

¹⁴Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah. All the Berites^C came together and followed him. ¹⁵Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah. They built a siege ramp^h against the outer wall of the city. While all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to make it collapse, ¹⁶a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here and let me speak with him.”

¹⁷When he had come near her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”

“I am,” he replied.

“Listen to the words of your servant,” she said to him.

He answered, “I’m listening.”

¹⁸She said, “In the past they used to say, ‘Seek counsel in Abel,’ and that’s how they settled disputes. ¹⁹I am one of the peaceful and faithful in Israel, but you’re trying to destroy a city that is like a mother in Israel. Why would you devour the Lord’s inheritance?”

²⁰Joab protested: “Never! I would never devour or demolish! ²¹That is not the case. There is a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, who has rebelled against King David. Deliver this one man, and I will withdraw from the city.”

The woman replied to Joab, “Watch! His head will be thrown over the wall to you.” ²²The woman went to all the people with her wise counsel,^a and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, each to his own tent. Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

²³Joab commanded the whole army of Israel;^b

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

²⁴Adoram was over forced labor;^c

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was court historian;

²⁵Sheva was court secretary;

Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

²⁶and in addition, Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

JUSTICE FOR THE GIBEONITES

21During David’s reign there was a famine for three successive years, so David inquired^B of the Lord. The Lord answered, “It is due to Saul and to his bloody family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

²The Gibeonites were not Israelites but rather a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them,^d but Saul had tried to kill them in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah. So David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. ³He asked the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How can I make atonement so that you will bring a blessing on^C the Lord’s inheritance?”

⁴The Gibeonites said to him, “We are not asking for silver and gold from Saul or his family,^e and we cannot put anyone to death in Israel.”^f

“Whatever you say, I will do for you,” he said.

⁵They replied to the king, “As for the man who annihilated us and plotted to destroy us so we would not exist within the whole territory of Israel, ⁶let seven of his male descendants be handed over to us so we may hang^D them in the presence of the Lord^g at Gibeah of Saul,^h the Lord’s chosen.”ⁱ

The king answered, “I will hand them over.”

⁷David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between David and Jonathan, Saul’s son.^{j 8}But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, who were the two sons whom Rizpah^k daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, and the five sons whom Merab^El daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite ⁹and handed them over to the Gibeonites. They hanged them on the hill in the presence of the Lord; the seven of them died together. They were executed in the first days of the harvest at the beginning of the barley harvest.^G

THE BURIAL OF SAUL’S FAMILY

¹⁰Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter, took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock from the beginning of the harvest^H until the rain poured down from heaven on the bodies. She kept the birds of the sky from them by day and the wild animals by night.

¹¹When it was reported to David what Saul’s concubine Rizpah daughter of Aiah had done, ¹²he went and got the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead. They had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies the day the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa.^{m 13}David had the bones brought from there. They gathered up the bones of Saul’s family who had been hanged ¹⁴and buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in the land of Benjamin in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. They did everything the king commanded. After this, God was receptive to prayer for the land.ⁿ

THE PHILISTINE GIANTS

¹⁵The Philistines again waged war against Israel. David went down with his soldiers, and they fought the Philistines, but David became exhausted. ¹⁶Then Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giant, whose bronze spear weighed about eight pounds^B and who wore new armor, intended to kill David. ¹⁷But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle. You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”^a

¹⁸After this,^b there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giant.

¹⁹Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath of Gath. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam.^c

²⁰At Gath there was still another battle. A huge man was there with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He, too, was descended from the giant. ²¹When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him.

²²These four were descended from the giant in Gath and were killed by David and his soldiers.