So God said ¹  to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, ²  for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy ³  them and the earth.

So Joab’s men ¹  came and laid siege against him in Abel of Beth Maacah. They prepared a siege ramp outside the city which stood against its outer rampart. As all of Joab’s soldiers were trying to break through ²  the wall so that it would collapse,