²² Then the woman ^(A)in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. Then he blew a trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, every man to his tent. So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

The Rebellion of Sheba

20 And there happened to be there a ^[a]rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet, and said:

Wisdom Superior to Folly

¹³ This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: ^14 (A)There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great ^[a]snares around it. ¹⁵ Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

¹⁶ Then I said:

^11 (A)Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

¹⁶ Then a wise woman cried out from the city, “Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, ‘Come nearby, that I may speak with you.’ ”

¹⁶ So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people.

⁶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. ⁸ And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and ^(A)wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the ^(B)door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”

¹¹ And Uriah said to David, ^(C)“The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and ^(D)my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”

¹² Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him ^(E)drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed ^(F)with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ In the morning it happened that David ^(G)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the ^[a]hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may ^(H)be struck down and die.” ¹⁶ So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

¹⁸ Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, ¹⁹ and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, ²⁰ if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who struck ^(I)Abimelech the son of ^[b]Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ”

²⁸ Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “My kingdom and I are ^[a]guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ^29 (A)Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the ^[b]house of Joab one ^(B)who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” ³⁰ So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother ^(C)Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

David’s Mourning for Abner

³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, ^(D)“Tear your clothes, ^(E)gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner.” And King David followed the coffin. ³² So they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. ³³ And the king sang a lament over Abner and said:

Then all the people wept over him again.

³⁵ And when all the people came ^(G)to persuade David to eat food while it was still day, David took an oath, saying, ^(H)“God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else ^(I)till the sun goes down!” ³⁶ Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, since whatever the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷ For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of Ner. ³⁸ Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹ And I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, ^(J)are too harsh for me. ^(K)The Lord shall repay the evildoer according to his wickedness.”