⁹ And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, ^(A)“On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.”

²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, ^(A)“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant.

^33 (A)So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore.”

²⁵ And all the people answered, ^(A)“His blood be on us and ^(B)on our children!”

²⁸ Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ^29 (A)May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without ^(B)one who has a discharge or who is ^(C)leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!”

Atonement for Unsolved Murders

21 “If in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, ² then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. ³ And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer ^(A)that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. ⁴ And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. ⁵ Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen ^(B)them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and ^(C)by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. ⁶ And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man ^(D)shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. ⁸ Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and ^(E)do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ ⁹ So ^(F)you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

³³ You shall not ^(A)pollute the land in which you live, for blood ^(B)pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except ^(C)by the blood of the one who shed it.

¹³ His mother said to him, ^(A)“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”