³² So the Lord ^(A)will return his ^[a]blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous ^(B)and better than he, and killed them with the sword—^(C)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and ^(D)Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it.

^24 (A)that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their ^(B)blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers.

⁵⁷ And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came ^(A)the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

⁵ “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah ^(A)did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^(B)Abner the son of Ner and ^(C)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet.

⁹ Then Joab said to Amasa, “Are you in health, my brother?” ^(A)And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. ¹⁰ But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab’s hand. And ^(B)he struck him with it ^(C)in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died.

Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

²⁶ And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. ²⁷ Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab ^(A)took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there ^[a]stabbed him ^(B)in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of ^(C)Asahel his brother.

¹⁹ If it pleases the king, let a royal ^[a]decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will ^(A)not ^[b]be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.