So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him.

He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight ¹  and lock the door behind her!”

Now David’s soldiers ¹  and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David ²  had sent him away and he had left in peace.

Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ¹  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ²  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ³  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ⁴