Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, &#8220;My own son, my very own flesh and blood,<n id="1" /> is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the <sc>Lordsc> has spoken to him.

At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first,<n id="1" /> whoever hears about it will say, &#8216;Absalom&#8217;s army has been slaughtered!&#8217;

<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;

When the angel<n id="1" /> extended his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the <sc>Lordsc> relented from his judgment.<n id="2" /> He told the angel who was killing the people, &#8220;That&#8217;s enough! Stop now!&#8221;<n id="3" /> (Now the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s angel was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)p>

<p class="bodytext">But the soldiers replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;You should not do this!<n id="2" /> For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won&#8217;t be too concerned about us.<n id="3" /> Even if half of us should die, they won&#8217;t be too concerned about us. But you<n id="4" /> are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.&#8221;

So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to<n id="1" /> your servants. For I swear by the <sc>Lordsc> that if you don&#8217;t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Gad went to David and told him, &#8220;Shall seven<n id="1" /> years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide<n id="2" /> what I should tell the one who sent me.&#8221;