the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to thee.
38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee: and whatever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. [1]
39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king had come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.
40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel. [2]
41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to him, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David’s men with him, over Jordan?
42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: why then are ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all at the king’s cost ? or hath he given us any gift?
43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. [3]
CHAP. 20.
1 And there happened to be there a worthless fellow, 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.
2 So every man of Israel withdrew from following David, followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah held fast to their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.
3 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 custody, and fed them, but went not in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood. [4] [5] [6]
4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble to me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present. [7]
5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. [8]
6 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 him, lest he get for himself fortified cities, and escape us. [9]
7 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.
8 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 to him, and upon it a belt with a sword fastened upon his loins in its sheath; and as he went forth it fell out.
9 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 in the fifth rib, and shed out his inward parts to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. [10]
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 to 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
- ↑ require: Heb. choose
- ↑ Chimham: Heb. Chimhan
- ↑ despise...: Heb. set us at light
- ↑ ward: Heb. an house of ward
- ↑ shut...: Heb. bound
- ↑ living...: Heb. in widowhood of life
- ↑ Assemble: Heb. Call
- ↑ Assemble: Heb. Call
- ↑ escape...: Heb. deliver himself from our eyes
- ↑ struck...: Heb. doubled not his stroke
