There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant<n id="1" /> of Saul&#8217;s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed<n id="2" /> the Jordan within sight of the king.

They crossed at the ford in order to help the king&#8217;s household cross and to do whatever he thought appropriate.p> <p class="bodytext">Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king.

But David said, &#8220;What do we have in common,<n id="1" /> you sons of Zeruiah? You are like my enemy today! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don&#8217;t you realize that today I am king over Israel?&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">Now Mephibosheth, Saul&#8217;s grandson,<n id="1" /> came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely<n id="2" /> returned, Mephibosheth<n id="3" /> had not cared for his feet<n id="4" /> nor trimmed<n id="5" /> his mustache nor washed his clothes.p>

<p class="bodytext">Then David said to Abishai, &#8220;Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord&#8217;s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure<n id="1" /> fortified cities for himself and get away from us.&#8221;

Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab&#8217;s other hand, and Joab<n id="1" /> stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa&#8217;s<n id="2" /> intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal.<n id="3" /> Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice and they cut off Sheba&#8217;s head and threw it out to Joab. Joab<n id="1" /> blew the trumpet, and his men<n id="2" /> dispersed from the city, each going to his own home.<n id="3" /> Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.p>

<p class="bodytext">They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything<n id="1" /> that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers<n id="2" /> for the land.p>

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David&#8217;s aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David&#8217;s men took an oath saying, &#8220;You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!&#8221;p>

Yet another battle occurred with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion Elhanan the son of Jair<n id="1" /> the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,<n id="2" /> the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver&#8217;s beam.

<p class="bodytext">Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three.<n id="1" /> He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three.<n id="2" />

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, &#8220;Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The <sc>Lordsc> has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against<n id="1" /> Saul and his descendants!&#8221;p>

he<n id="1" /> sent his son Joram<n id="2" /> to King David to extend his best wishes<n id="3" /> and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer.<n id="4" /> He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze.<n id="5" />

<p class="bodytext">The man replied to Joab, &#8220;Even if<n id="1" /> I were receiving<n id="2" /> a thousand pieces of silver,<n id="3" /> I would not strike<n id="4" /> the king&#8217;s son! In our very presence<n id="5" /> the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, &#8216;Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.&#8217;<n id="6" />

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I<n id="1" /> taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I<n id="2" /> continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

That&#8217;s not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri. He has rebelled<n id="1" /> against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city.&#8221; The woman said to Joab, &#8220;This very minute<n id="2" /> his head will be thrown over the wall to you!&#8221;p>

he<n id="1" /> went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan<n id="2" /> from the leaders<n id="3" /> of Jabesh Gilead. (They had secretly taken<n id="4" /> them from the plaza at Beth Shan. It was there that Philistines<n id="5" /> publicly exposed their corpses<n id="6" /> after<n id="7" /> they<n id="8" /> had killed Saul at Gilboa.)