Sheba’s Revolt

20 Now ^(A)a worthless fellow happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of ^(B)Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet and said,

² So all the men of Israel ^[a]withdrew from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah ^[b]remained steadfast to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

³ Then David came to his house at Jerusalem, and ^(F)the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and placed them under guard and provided them with sustenance, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as widows.

⁴ Then the king said to ^(G)Amasa, “Call out the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.” ⁵ So Amasa went to call out the men of Judah, but he ^(H)delayed longer than the set time which he had appointed him. ⁶ And David said to ^(I)Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; ^(J)take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight.” ⁷ So Joab’s men went out after him, ^(K)along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. ⁸ When they were at the large stone which is in ^(L)Gibeon, Amasa came ^[c]to meet them. Now Joab was ^[d]dressed in his military attire, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened at his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out. ⁹ Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And ^(M)Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

Amasa Murdered

¹⁰ But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand so ^(N)he struck him in the belly with it and poured out his inward parts on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. ¹¹ Now there stood by him one of Joab’s young men, and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, ^(O)let him follow Joab.” ¹² But Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he ^[e]removed Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

Revolt Put Down

¹³ As soon as he was removed from the highway, all the men passed on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

¹⁴ Now he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they were gathered together and also went after him. ¹⁵ They came and besieged him in ^(P)Abel Beth-maacah, and ^(Q)they ^[f]cast up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood by the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall. ¹⁶ Then ^(R)a wise woman called from the city, “Hear, hear! Please tell Joab, ‘Come here that I may speak with you.’” ¹⁷ So he approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your maidservant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” ¹⁸ Then she spoke, saying, “Formerly they used to say, ‘They will surely ask advice at Abel,’ and thus they ended the dispute. ¹⁹ I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. ^(S)You are seeking to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up ^(T)the inheritance of the Lord?” ²⁰ Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy! ²¹ Such is not the case. But a man from ^(U)the hill country of Ephraim, ^(V)Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against King David. Only hand him over, and I will depart from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” ²² Then the woman ^(W)wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So ^(X)he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.

^23 (Y)Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; ²⁴ and Adoram was over the forced labor, and ^(Z)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; ²⁵ and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and ^(AA)Abiathar were priests; ²⁶ and Ira the Jairite was also a priest to David.

Description of a Worthy Woman

The Rise of False Prophets

2 But ^(A)false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be ^(B)false teachers ^(C)among you, who will ^(D)secretly introduce ^(E)destructive heresies, even ^(F)denying the ^(G)Master who ^(H)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ² Many will follow their ^(I)sensuality, and because of them ^(J)the way of the truth will be ^(K)maligned; ³ and in their ^(L)greed they will ^(M)exploit you with ^(N)false words; ^(O)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴ For ^(P)if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and ^(Q)committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare ^(R)the ancient world, but preserved ^(S)Noah, a ^[a]preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a ^(T)flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and if He ^(U)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an ^(V)example to those who would ^(W)live ungodly lives thereafter; ⁷ and if He ^(X)rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the ^(Y)sensual conduct of ^(Z)unprincipled men ⁸ (for by what he saw and heard that ^(AA)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), ^9 (AB)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from ^[b]temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the ^(AC)day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who ^[c](AD)indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and ^(AE)despise authority.

Daring, ^(AF)self-willed, they do not tremble when they ^(AG)revile angelic ^[d]majesties, ^11 (AH)whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. ¹² But ^(AI)these, like unreasoning animals, ^(AJ)born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in ^[e]the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(AK)the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to ^(AL)revel in the ^(AM)daytime. They are stains and blemishes, ^(AN)reveling in their ^[f]deceptions, as they ^(AO)carouse with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, ^(AP)enticing ^(AQ)unstable souls, having a heart trained in ^(AR)greed, ^(AS)accursed children; ¹⁵ forsaking ^(AT)the right way, they have gone astray, having followed ^(AU)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(AV)the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, ^(AW)for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are ^(AX)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, ^(AY)for whom the ^[g]black darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For speaking out ^(AZ)arrogant words of ^(BA)vanity they ^(BB)entice by fleshly desires, by ^(BC)sensuality, those who barely ^(BD)escape from the ones who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for ^(BE)by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have ^(BF)escaped the defilements of the world by ^(BG)the knowledge of the ^(BH)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again ^(BI)entangled in them and are overcome, ^(BJ)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ^21 (BK)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from ^(BL)the holy commandment ^(BM)handed on to them. ^22 [h]It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “^(BN)A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”