1. And there happened to be there a rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet, and said:“We have no share in David,Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse;Every man to his tents, O Israel!”
2. So every man of Israel deserted David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king.
3. Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4. And the king said to Amasa, “Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.”
5. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him.
6. And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and escape us.”