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¹Now a worthless man happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no share in David, Nor do we have an inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, Israel!”

²So all the men of Israel withdrew from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah remained loyal to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

³Then David came to his house in Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left behind to take care of the house, and put them in custody and provided them with food, but did not have relations with them. So they were locked up until the day of their death, living as widows.

⁴Now the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.”

⁵So Amasa went to summon the men of Judah, but he was delayed longer than the set time which he had designated for him.

⁶And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight.”

⁷So Joab’s men went out after him, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors; and they left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

⁸When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it he had a belt with a sword in its sheath strapped on at his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out.

⁹And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it going well for you, my brother?” And Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

¹⁰But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand, so he struck him in the belly with it and spilled out his intestines on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹¹Now one of Joab’s young men stood by him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

¹²But Amasa was wallowing in his own blood in the middle of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa from the road to the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

¹³As soon as he was removed from the road, all the men went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹⁴Now he went on through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, that is, Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and went after him as well.

¹⁵And they came and besieged him in Abel Beth-maacah, and they built up an assault ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall.

¹⁶Then a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen, listen! Please tell Joab, ‘Come here that I may speak with you.’ ”

¹⁷So he approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your slave.” And he said, “I am listening.”

¹⁸Then she spoke, saying, “In the past they used to say, ‘They will undoubtedly ask advice at Abel,’ and that is how they ended a dispute.

¹⁹I am one of those who are ready for peace and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?”

²⁰Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me that I would consume or destroy!

²¹Such is not the case. But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has raised his hand against King David. Only turn him over, and I will depart from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

²²Then the woman wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.

²³Now Joab was in command of the entire army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites;

²⁴and Adoram was over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary;

²⁵and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

²⁶Ira the Jairite also was a priest to David.

¹Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

²So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel had made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah).

³David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make amends, so that you will bless the inheritance of the LORD?”

⁴Then the Gibeonites said to him, “For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” Nevertheless David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.”

⁵So they said to the king, “The man who destroyed us and who planned to eliminate us so that we would not exist within any border of Israel—

⁶let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

⁷But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath of the LORD which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.

⁸So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

⁹Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹⁰And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night.

¹¹When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

¹²then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa.

¹³He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.

¹⁴Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; So they did everything that the king commanded, and after that God responded to prayer for the land.

¹⁵Now when the Philistines were at war with Israel again, David went down, and his servants with him; and when they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.

¹⁶Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, had strapped on a new sword, and he intended to kill David.

¹⁷But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”

¹⁸Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant.

¹⁹And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰And there was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant.

²¹When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck and killed him.

²²These four were born to the giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

¹Now David spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day that the LORD had saved him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

²He said, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

³My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.

⁴I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

⁵For the waves of death encompassed me; The floods of destruction terrified me;

⁶The ropes of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

⁷In my distress I called upon the LORD, Yes, I called out to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.

⁸Then the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁹Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth was devouring; Coals were kindled by it.

¹⁰He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

¹¹He rode on a cherub and flew; He appeared on the wings of the wind.

¹²He made darkness canopies around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.

¹³From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.

¹⁵And He shot arrows and scattered them, Lightning, and routed them.

¹⁶Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were exposed By the rebuke of the LORD, From the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

¹⁷He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸He rescued me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

¹⁹They confronted me on the day of my disaster, But the LORD was my support.

²⁰He also brought me out into an open place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

²¹The LORD has treated me in accordance with my righteousness; In accordance with the cleanliness of my hands He has repaid me.

²²For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not acted wickedly against my God.

²³For all His ordinances were before me, And as for His statutes, I did not deviate from them.

²⁴I was also blameless toward Him, And I have kept myself from my wrongdoing.

²⁵So the LORD has repaid me in accordance with my righteousness, In accordance with my cleanliness before His eyes.

²⁶With the one who is faithful You show Yourself faithful, With the blameless one You prove Yourself blameless;

²⁷With the one who is pure You show Yourself pure, But with the perverted You show Yourself astute.

²⁸And You save an afflicted people; But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You humiliate.

²⁹For You are my lamp, LORD; And the LORD illuminates my darkness.

³⁰For by You I can run at a troop of warriors; By my God I can leap over a wall.

³¹As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is refined; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

³²For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?

³³God is my strong fortress; And He sets the blameless on His way.

³⁴He makes my feet like deer’s feet, And sets me on my high places.

³⁵He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your help makes me great.

³⁷You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.

³⁸I pursued my enemies and eliminated them, And I did not turn back until they were finished off.

³⁹And I have devoured them and smashed them, so that they would not rise; And they fell under my feet.

⁴⁰For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.

⁴¹You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴²They looked, but there was no one to save them; Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

⁴³Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like the mud of the streets.

⁴⁴You have also saved me from the contentions of my people; You have kept me as head of the nations; A people I have not known serve me.

⁴⁵Foreigners pretend to obey me; As soon as they hear, they obey me.

⁴⁶Foreigners lose heart, And come trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁷The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock; And exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,

⁴⁸The God who executes vengeance for me, And brings down peoples under me,

⁴⁹Who also brings me out from my enemies; You also raise me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent person.

⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks to You, LORD, among the nations, And I will sing praises to Your name.

⁵¹He is a tower of salvation to His king, And shows favor to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.”