Abner Joins David

3 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.

⁹ And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, ^(A)“The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and ^(B)saved us from the hand of the Philistines, and now ^(C)he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

⁴³ And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ^(A)ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” ^(B)But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

The Rebellion of Sheba

20 Now there happened to be there ^(A)a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said,