²⁸Joab heard what had happened. (He had supported Adonijah, but not Absalom.) So he fled to the Tent of the Lord’s presence and took hold of the corners of the altar.^f ²⁹When the news reached King Solomon that Joab had fled to the Tent and was by the altar, Solomon sent a messenger to Joab to ask him why he had fled to the altar. Joab answered that he had fled to the Lord because he was afraid of Solomon. So King Solomon sent Benaiah^g to kill Joab. ³⁰He went to the Tent of the Lord’s presence and said to Joab, “The king orders you to come out.”

“No,” Joab answered. “I will die here.”

Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said.

³¹“Do what Joab says,” Solomon answered. “Kill him and bury him. Then neither I nor any other of David’s descendants will any longer be held responsible for what Joab did when he killed innocent men. ³²The Lord will punish Joab for those murders, which he committed^h without my father David’s knowledge. Joab killed two innocent men who were better men than he: Abner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa, commander of the army of Judah. ³³The punishment for their murders will fall on Joab and on his descendants for ever. But the Lord will always give success to David’s descendants who sit on his throne.”

³⁴So Benaiah went to the Tent of the Lord’s presence and killed Joab, and he was buried at his home in the open country.

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Footnotes

fcorners of the altar: See 1:50.
gOne ancient translation Solomon sent a messenger … sent Benaiah; Hebrew Solomon sent Benaiah.
hwill punish … committed; or will kill Joab, because he committed those murders.