But don't you stay there. Chase the enemy down and attack them from the rear. Don't let them escape to their towns for the Lord has given them to you to defeat.”
If he tries to find protection in a town, all of Israel will bring ropes to that town, and we will pull it down into the valley so that not even a stone will be left.”
David then spoke to Abishai, saying, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri is going to cause us more trouble than Absalom did. Take the king's men and chase him down, or he will take over fortified towns and get away from us.”
The people say, “Why are we sitting around here? Let's get together and run to the fortified towns. We can die there, for the Lord our God is killing us by giving us poisoned water to drink, because we sinned against him.