16. And a wise woman calleth out of the city, `Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, and I speak unto thee.'
17. And he cometh near unto her, and the woman saith, `Art thou Joab?' and he saith, `I [am].' And she saith to him, `Hear the words of thy handmaid;' and he saith, `I am hearing.'
18. and she speaketh, saying, `They spake often in former times, saying, Let them diligently ask at Abel, and so they finished.
19. I [am] of the peaceable--faithful ones of Israel; thou art seeking to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel; why dost thou swallow up the inheritance of Jehovah?
20. And Joab answereth and saith, `Far be it--far be it from me; I do not swallow up nor destroy.
21. The matter [is] not so; for a man of the hill-country of Ephraim--Sheba son of Bichri his name--hath lifted up his hand against the king, against David; give ye up him by himself, and I go away from the city.' And the woman saith unto Joab, `Lo, his head is cast unto thee over the wall.'
22. And the woman cometh unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast [it] unto Joab, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and they are scattered from the city, each to his tents, and Joab hath turnedback to Jerusalem unto the king.
23. And Joab [is] over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada [is] over the Cherethite, and over the Pelethite,