¹⁷ When he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”

“I am,” he answered.

Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your handmaid.”

“I’m listening,” he answered.

¹⁸ Then she spoke up saying, “They used to say in old time, ‘They shall surely seek counsel at Abel and that’s how they settled any dispute. ¹⁹ I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. Are you seeking to destroy a mother city in Israel? Why would you devour Adonai’s inheritance?”