¹⁶There was a wise woman in the city who shouted from the wall, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here; I want to speak with him.” ¹⁷Joab went, and she asked, “Are you Joab?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

“Listen to me, sir,” she said.

“I’m listening,” he answered.

¹⁸She said, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Go and get your answer in the city of Abel’—and that’s just what they did. ¹⁹Ours is a great city, one of the most peaceful and loyal in Israel. Why are you trying to destroy it? Do you want to ruin what belongs to the Lord?”

²⁰“Never!” Joab answered. “I will never ruin or destroy your city! ²¹That is not our plan. A man named Sheba son of Bikri, who is from the hill country of Ephraim, started a rebellion against King David. Hand over this one man, and I will withdraw from the city.”

“We will throw his head over the wall to you,” she said. ²²Then she went to the people of the city with her plan, and they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it over the wall to Joab. He blew the trumpet as a signal for his men to leave the city, and they went back home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

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