2 Samuel 20:16–22

¹⁶Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. ¹⁷And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. ¹⁸Then she spake, saying, ^||They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at ^mAbel: and so they ended the matter. ¹⁹I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou ^qswallow up ^rthe inheritance of the Lord? ²⁰And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should ^qswallow up or destroy. ²¹The matter is not so: but a man ^sof mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri ^†by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. ²²Then the woman went unto all the people ^tin her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they ^†retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.