1. Now a despicable man named Sheba, Bichri’s son, from Benjamin, was also there. He sounded the trumpet and said:"We don’t care about David!We have no stake in Jesse’s son!Go back to your homes, Israel!"
2. So all the Israelites left David to follow Bichri’s son Sheba. But all the people of Judah stayed close to their king from the Jordan River all the way to Jerusalem.
3. When David arrived at his palace in Jerusalem, the king took the ten secondary wives he had left to take care of the palace and put them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he didn’t have sex with them. They were confined until the day they died, and lived like widows.
4. Then the king said to Amasa, "Call everyone in Judah here to me three days from now. You should be here too."
5. So Amasa went to call Judah together, but he took longer than the allotted time.
6. David told Abishai, "Bichri’s son Sheba will cause more trouble for us than Absalom did. Take your master’s servants and chase after him before he finds fortified cities and escapes from us."
7. So Joab’s men marched out after Sheba—this included the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors. They marched out of Jerusalem to pursue Bichri’s son Sheba.
8. When they got to the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was dressed in his soldier’s uniform. Over the tunic at his waist he wore a sword in its sheath. As Joab went forward it slipped out.
9. "How are you, my brother?" Joab asked Amasa, and with his right hand he took hold of Amasa’s beard as if to kiss him.