²⁸ When Joab heard about what had happened, he was afraid. He had supported Adonijah but not Absalom. So Joab ·ran [fled] to the Tent of the Lord [^Cin which the Ark was kept] and took hold of the ·corners [horns; 1:50] of the altar. ²⁹ Someone 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.

³⁰ Benaiah 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. ³¹ Then the king ordered Benaiah, “Do as he says! Kill him there and bury him. Then my ·family [^Lfather’s house] and I will ·be free of the guilt of Joab, who has killed innocent people [^Lhave taken away the blood Joab shed without cause]. ³² Without my father knowing it, he killed two men who were ·much [more righteous and] better than he was—Abner son of Ner, the commander of Israel’s army [2 Sam. 3:22–39], and Amasa son of Jether, the commander of Judah’s army [2 Sam. 20:8–10]. So the Lord will ·pay him back [^Lbring his blood on his own head] for those deaths. ³³ Joab and his ·family [descendants] will ·be forever guilty for their deaths [^Lhave their blood on their heads forever], but there will be peace from the Lord for David, his descendants, his ·family [^Lhouse], and his throne forever.”

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