²⁷ Now when Abner^(A) returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him^(B) in the stomach, and he died.^(C)

⁴ Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.^[a](A)