3. And David cometh in unto his house at Jerusalem, and the king taketh the ten women-concubines--whom he had left to keep the house, and putteth them in a house of ward, and sustaineth them, and unto them he hath not gone in, and they are shut up unto the day of their death, in widowhood living.
4. And the king saith unto Amasa, `Call for me the men of Judah [in] three days, and thou, stand here,'
5. and Amasa goeth to call Judah, and tarrieth beyond the appointed time that he had appointed him;
6. and David saith unto Abishai, `Now doth Sheba son of Bichri do evil to us more than Absalom; thou, take the servants of thy lord, and pursue after him, lest he have found for himself fenced cities, and delivered himself [from] our eye.'
7. And the men of Joab go out after him, and the Cherethite, and the Pelethite, and all the mighty men, and they go out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri;
8. they [are] near the great stone that [is] in Gibeon, and Amasa hath gone before them, and Joab [is] girded; his long robe he hath put on him, and upon it a girdle--a sword [is] fastened upon his loins in its sheath; and he hath gone out, and it falleth.
9. And Joab saith to Amasa, `Art thou [in] peace, my brother?' and the right hand of Joab layeth hold on the beard of Amasa to give a kiss to him;
10. and Amasa hath not been watchful of the sword that [is] in the hand of Joab, and he smiteth him with it unto the fifth [rib], and sheddeth out his bowels to the earth, and he hath not repeated [it] to him, and he dieth; and Joab and Abishai his brother have pursued after Sheba son of Bichri.
11. And a man hath stood by him, of the young men of Joab, and saith, `He who hath delight in Joab, and he who [is] for David--after Joab!'
12. And Amasa is rolling himself in blood, in the midst of the highway, and the man seeth that all the people have stood still, and he bringeth round Amasa out of the highway to the field, and casteth over him a garment, when he hath seen thatevery one who hath come by him-- hath stood still.
13. When he hath been removed out of the highway, every man hath passed on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri.
14. And he passeth over through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth-Maachah, and to all the Berites, and they are assembled, and go in also after him,
15. and they go in and lay siege against him, in Abel of Beth-Maachah, and cast up a mount against the city, and it standeth in a trench, and all the people who are [are] with Joab are destroying, to cause the wall to fall.