¹³ And say to ^(A)Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? ^(B)May God do so to me, and more so, if you will not be ^(C)commander of the army ^[a]for me continually, ^(D)in place of Joab.’”

⁹ And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it going well for you, my brother?” And ^(A)Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

Amasa Murdered

¹⁰ But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand, so ^(B)he struck him in the belly with it and spilled out his intestines on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. ¹¹ Now one of Joab’s young men stood by him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, ^(C)follow Joab!” ¹² But Amasa was wallowing in his own blood in the middle of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa from the road to the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

⁵ “Now you yourself also know what Joab the ^(A)son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^(B)Abner the son of Ner and to ^(C)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also ^[a]shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt that was on his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet.

^32 (A)The Lord will return his blood on his own head, ^(B)because he ^[a]struck two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know about it: ^(C)Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and ^(D)Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.