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Mirebelde si Sheba kang David

20 Unya, may usa ka tawo didto nga Benjaminhon nga kanunay lang nagapangita ug samok. Ang iyang ngalan mao si Sheba, ug anak siya ni Bicri. Gipatingog niya ang budyong ug misinggit, “Mga taga-Israel, wala kitay labot kang David nga anak ni Jesse! Mamauli kitang tanan!” Busa gibiyaan sa mga taga-Israel si David ug misunod kang Sheba nga anak ni Bicri. Apan nagpabilin ang mga taga-Juda uban sa ilang hari, ug giubanan nila siya gikan sa Suba sa Jordan hangtod sa Jerusalem.

Sa dihang nakabalik na si David sa iyang palasyo sa Jerusalem, nagpasugo siya nga dad-on sa usa ka balay ang iyang napulo ka asawa nga iyang gibilin sa pag-atiman sa palasyo, ug gipaguwardyahan niya sila. Gihatagan niya sila sa ilang mga kinahanglanon, apan wala na siya makigdulog kanila. Didto sila magpuyo ingon nga mga biyuda hangtod nga nangamatay sila.

Unya miingon ang hari kang Amasa, “Tawga ang mga sundalo sa Juda, ug anhi kamo kanako sa ikatulo ka adlaw gikan karon.” Busa milakaw si Amasa ug gitawag ang mga sundalo sa Juda. Apan wala siya makabalik sa adlaw nga gitakda kaniya sa hari. Busa miingon ang hari kang Abishai, “Mas grabe pa unya nga kadaot ang himuon kanato ni Sheba kay sa gihimo ni Absalom. Busa dad-a ang akong mga tawo ug gukda ninyo siya. Kay tingalig makailog siyag pinarilan nga mga lungsod, ug makaikyas siya gikan kanato.”

Busa mibiya si Abishai sa Jerusalem aron sa paggukod kang Sheba nga anak ni Bicri. Giuban niya si Joab ug ang mga sakop niini, ang mga badigard ni David nga mga Keretnon ug mga Peletnon, ug ang tanang maisog nga mga sundalo. Sa didto na sila sa dakong bato sa Gibeon, naabtan sila ni Amasa. Nakauniporme si Joab ug may gitakin siyang espada. Samtang nagpaduol siya kang Amasa, gisikrito niya pag-ibot ang iyang espada.[a] Miingon siya kang Amasa, “Kumusta ka igsoon?” Unya gikuptan niya sa iyang tuong kamot ang bungot ni Amasa aron kunohay mohalok kaniya. 10 Apan wala makabantay si Amasa sa espada sa walang kamot ni Joab. Gidunggab siya ni Joab sa tiyan ug nayagyag ang iyang tinai sa yuta ug namatay siya. Busa wala na siya dunggaba pa pag-usab ni Joab. Unya nagpadayon si Joab ug ang iyang igsoon nga si Abishai sa paggukod kang Sheba. 11 Mitindog sa tapad ni Amasa ang usa sa mga tawo ni Joab, ug miingon ngadto sa mga tawo ni Amasa, “Kon dapig kamo kang Joab ug kang David, sunod kamo kang Joab!” 12 Nagbuy-od sa tunga sa dalan si Amasa nga naligo sa iyang kaugalingong dugo. Ang tanang makakita kaniya mohunong gayod sa pagtan-aw. Busa sa dihang namatikdan kini sa tawo ni Joab, giguyod niya ang patayng lawas ni Amasa gikan sa dalan ug gidala sa uma, ug gitabonan kini ug panapton. 13 Sa dihang nakuha na ang patayng lawas ni Amasa sa dalan, mipadayon ang tanan sa pagsunod kang Joab aron sa paggukod kang Sheba.

14 Sa laing bahin, nagaadto si Sheba sa tanang tribo sa Israel aron tigomon ang tanan niyang paryente.[b] Misunod kaniya ang iyang mga paryente, ug nagtigom sila sa Abel Bet Maaca. 15 Sa dihang nahibaloan kini ni Joab ug sa iyang mga tawo, miadto sila sa Abel Bet Maaca ug gilibotan nila kini. Nagpundok sila ug yuta sa kilid sa paril aron katungtongan nila sa pagsaka. Ug gihinayhinay nilag guba ang paril.

16 Unya, may usa ka maalamon nga babaye sulod sa lungsod nga misinggit ngadto sa mga tawo ni Joab, “Pamati kamo kanako! Ingna ninyo si Joab nga moanhi siya dinhi kanako kay buot akong makigsulti kaniya.” 17 Busa miadto si Joab kaniya, ug nangutana ang babaye, “Ikaw ba si Joab?” Mitubag si Joab, “Oo.” Miingon ang babaye, “Sir, pamatia ang isulti ko kanimo.” Mitubag si Joab, “Sige, mamati ako.” 18 Miingon ang babaye, “May usa ka panultihon kaniadto nga nagaingon, ‘Kon gusto ninyong masulbad ang inyong mga problema, pangayo kamog tambag sa lungsod sa Abel.’ 19 Usa ako sa mga nangandoy nga motunhay ang kalinaw sa Israel. Apan ikaw, nganong ginatinguha mong gub-on ang usa sa mga nagaunang lungsod[c] sa Israel? Nganong gusto mong gub-on ang lungsod nga iya sa Ginoo?” 20 Mitubag si Joab, “Dili ko gusto nga gub-on ang inyong lungsod! 21 Dili kana mao ang among tuyo. Misulong kami tungod kang Sheba nga anak ni Bicri nga gikan sa kabungtoran sa Efraim. Mirebelde siya kang Haring David. Itugyan ninyo siya kanamo ug mobiya kami sa inyong lungsod.” Miingon ang babaye, “Iitsa namo kanimo ang iyang ulo agi sa paril.”

22 Unya miadto ang babaye sa mga lumulupyo sa lungsod ug gisultihan sila sa iyang plano. Gipunggotan nilag ulo si Sheba ug giitsa nila kini kang Joab. Unya gipatingog ni Joab ang budyong ug mibiya ang iyang mga tawo sa lungsod ug namauli. Mibalik si Joab sa Jerusalem ug miadto sa hari.

Ang mga Opisyal ni David

23 Ang pangulo sa tibuok kasundalohan sa Israel mao si Joab. Ang pangulo sa mga badigard ni David nga mga Keretnon ug mga Peletnon mao si Benaya nga anak ni Jehoyada. 24 Ang nagdumala sa mga ulipon nga gipugos sa pagpatrabaho mao si Adoram. Ang nagadumala sa mga kasulatan sa gingharian mao si Jehoshafat nga anak ni Ahilud. 25 Ang sekretaryo sa hari mao si Sheva. Ang mga pangulong pari mao sila si Zadok ug si Abiatar. 26 Ug ang personal nga pari ni David mao si Ira nga taga-Jair.

Footnotes

  1. 20:8 gisikrito niya pag-ibot ang iyang espada: o, nahulog ang espada.
  2. 20:14 tanan niyang paryente: sa Hebreo, Berinhon. Tingali ang buot ipasabot, mga kaliwat ni Bicri.
  3. 20:19 usa sa mga nagaunang lungsod: sa literal, inahan nga lungsod.

20 A worthless troublemaker, Sheba the Benjaminite, the son of Bichri, blasted a trumpet and silenced everyone.

Sheba: We don’t have any share in David, no interest in the son of Jesse! Israel, let’s go back to our tents and show loyalty to only our own tribes!

So the people of Israel stopped following David and followed Sheba, son of Bichri; but the people of Judah faithfully accompanied David back from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

David came back to his palace at Jerusalem, and he took the 10 members of his harem he had left behind to look after things—the concubines whom Absalom had used sexually—and put them away in a house, under guard. He took care of them, but he never slept with them again as long as they lived. They lived shut away as if they were widows.

David (to Amasa): Go and tell the men of Judah they have three days to get here, and you come with them.

So Amasa went out to call Judah together, but he was delayed beyond his deadline.

David (to Abishai): Sheba, Bichri’s son, will do more damage to us than Absalom if he’s left untouched. Take my men and pursue him. If we’re not careful, he’ll escape into a fortified city and continue to cause trouble.

So Joab took his troops with the mercenary corps of Cherethites and Pelethites, and all these warriors went from Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba, Bichri’s son. When they reached the great boulder at Gibeon, Amasa met them. Joab was dressed for battle, with his sword strapped on at the waist; and as he went forward to meet Amasa, Joab’s sword slipped out of its sheath.

Joab: How are you, my brother?

With his right hand, Joab held Amasa’s face to kiss him, 10 but Amasa did not see the sword in Joab’s left hand. With one motion, Joab ripped open Amasa’s belly; his intestines spilled onto the ground, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai went off in pursuit of Sheba, Bichri’s son. 11 One of Joab’s men stood by Amasa’s body and shouted,

Joab’s Soldier: If you’re for Joab and David, then follow Joab!

12 Amasa lay agonizing in his blood on the highway, and the soldier saw that everyone was stopping to look. He dragged Amasa off the road into a field and threw a coat over him. 13 Once that distraction was removed, all the soldiers followed Joab to find Sheba, son of Bichri.

14 Sheba marched across all the tribal lands of Israel until he came to Abel in Beth-maacah; and all his kinsmen, the Berites, gathered and followed him inside the fortified city. 15 When Joab’s army arrived, they put Abel Beth-maacah under siege. They built an earthen rampart up onto the wall, while others with Joab tried to break the wall down. 16 Then a wise woman called out from the city.

Woman: Listen to me! Tell Joab that I want to talk to him!

17 Joab came close enough to hear her.

Woman: Are you Joab?

Joab: Yes, I am.

Woman: I, your servant, have something to tell you.

Joab: All right. I am listening.

Woman: 18 In the old days, people used to say, “Let’s ask for guidance at Abel,” and there they would resolve their differences. 19 I am one of the many in Israel who are faithful and peaceful. Why would you destroy a city that has been a mother to Israel? Why would you knock down what the Eternal One has built?

Joab: 20 I’m certainly not here to destroy the city. 21 That’s the last thing I want to do! But we are pursuing a man from the hill country of Ephraim: Sheba, Bichri’s son, who has raised up a rebellion against David the king. If you will hand him over to us, then we will lift the siege and go home.

Woman: Then stay alert—we’ll throw his head over the wall to you.

22 The wise woman talked to all the people about her plan to save the city. They cut off Sheba’s head and threw it over the wall for Joab. Then Joab blew the trumpet to halt his attack. The troops went to their homes, and Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

23 With Amasa dead, Joab again commanded all the army of Israel. Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son, commanded the mercenary companies of Cherethites and Pelethites. 24 Adoram commanded all the forced laborers. Jehoshaphat, Ahilud’s son, was the recorder, 25 and Sheva was the royal secretary. Zadok and Abiathar were priests, 26 and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

20 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.

So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.

And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.

So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.

And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.

And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab.

12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.

17 And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

18 Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

19 I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?

20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

21 The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.

22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

23 Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:

24 And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:

25 And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.