²⁸When Joab heard about what had happened, he was afraid. He had supported Adonijah but not Absalom. So Joab ran to the Tent of the Lord and took hold of the corners of the altar. ⁿ ²⁹Someone told King Solomon that Joab had run to the Tent of the Lord and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah to go and kill him.

³⁰Benaiah went into the Tent of the Lord and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!’ ”

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

So Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said. ³¹Then the king ordered Benaiah, “Do as he says! Kill him there and bury him. Then my family and I will be free of the guilt of Joab, who has killed innocent people. ³²Without my father knowing it, he killed two men who were much better than he was—Abner son of Ner, the commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, the commander of Judah’s army. So the Lord will pay him back for those deaths. ³³Joab and his family will be forever guilty for their deaths, but there will be peace from the Lord for David, his descendants, his family, and his throne forever.”

³⁴So Benaiah son of Jehoiada killed Joab, and he was buried near his home in the desert.

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Footnotes

ncorners of the altar If a person were innocent of a crime, he could run into the Holy Place where the altar was. If he held on to the corners of the altar, which looked like horns, he would be safe.