Help QuickNav Adv. Options
NLT

NLT

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
Copy Options
Cite Print
The Blue Letter Bible

2 Samuel 20 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
The Revolt of Sheba

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:1 - There happened to be a troublemaker there named Sheba son of Bicri, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. Sheba blew a ram’s horn and began to chant:
“Down with the dynasty of David!
We have no interest in the son of Jesse.
Come on, you men of Israel,
back to your homes!”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:2 - So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stayed with their king and escorted him from the Jordan River to Jerusalem.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:3 - When David came to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to look after the palace and placed them in seclusion. Their needs were provided for, but he no longer slept with them. So each of them lived like a widow until she died.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:4 - Then the king told Amasa, “Mobilize the army of Judah within three days, and report back at that time.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:5 - So Amasa went out to notify Judah, but it took him longer than the time he had been given.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:6 - Then David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bicri is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my troops and chase after him before he gets into a fortified town where we can’t reach him.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:7 - So Abishai and Joab,[fn] together with the king’s bodyguard[fn] and all the mighty warriors, set out from Jerusalem to go after Sheba.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:8 - As they arrived at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa met them. Joab was wearing his military tunic with a dagger strapped to his belt. As he stepped forward to greet Amasa, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.[fn]

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:9 - “How are you, my cousin?” Joab said and took him by the beard with his right hand as though to kiss him.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:10 - Amasa didn’t notice the dagger in his left hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it so that his insides gushed out onto the ground. Joab did not need to strike again, and Amasa soon died. Joab and his brother Abishai left him lying there and continued after Sheba.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:11 - One of Joab’s young men shouted to Amasa’s troops, “If you are for Joab and David, come and follow Joab.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:12 - But Amasa lay in his blood in the middle of the road, and Joab’s man saw that everyone was stopping to stare at him. So he pulled him off the road into a field and threw a cloak over him.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:13 - With Amasa’s body out of the way, everyone went on with Joab to capture Sheba son of Bicri.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:14 - Meanwhile, Sheba traveled through all the tribes of Israel and eventually came to the town of Abel-beth-maacah. All the members of his own clan, the Bicrites,[fn] assembled for battle and followed him into the town.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:15 - When Joab’s forces arrived, they attacked Abel-beth-maacah. They built a siege ramp against the town’s fortifications and began battering down the wall.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:16 - But a wise woman in the town called out to Joab, “Listen to me, Joab. Come over here so I can talk to you.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:17 - As he approached, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”
“I am,” he replied.
So she said, “Listen carefully to your servant.”
“I’m listening,” he said.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:18 - Then she continued, “There used to be a saying, ‘If you want to settle an argument, ask advice at the town of Abel.’

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:19 - I am one who is peace loving and faithful in Israel. But you are destroying an important town in Israel.[fn] Why do you want to devour what belongs to the LORD?”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:20

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:20 - And Joab replied, “Believe me, I don’t want to devour or destroy your town!

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:21 - That’s not my purpose. All I want is a man named Sheba son of Bicri from the hill country of Ephraim, who has revolted against King David. If you hand over this one man to me, I will leave the town in peace.”
“All right,” the woman replied, “we will throw his head over the wall to you.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:22

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:22 - Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and called his troops back from the attack. They all returned to their homes, and Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:23

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:23 - Now Joab was the commander of the army of Israel. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was captain of the king’s bodyguard.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:24

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:24 - Adoniram[fn] was in charge of the labor force. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:25

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:25 - Sheva was the court secretary. Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 20:26

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 20:26 - And Ira, a descendant of Jair, was David’s personal priest.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew So Joab’s men.
Hebrew the Kerethites and Pelethites; also in 20:23.
Hebrew As he stepped forward, it fell out.
As in Greek and Latin versions; Hebrew reads All the Berites.
Hebrew a town that is a mother in Israel.
As in Greek version (see also 1 Kgs 4:6; 5:14); Hebrew reads Adoram.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
NLT
  [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
NLT
Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

2 Samuel Chapter 20 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras