All the people of Judah were in total agreement. So they sent the king this message: “Come back with all your servants.”
Absalom appointed Amasa to take Joab’s place as commander of the army. (Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, a descendant of Ishmael. His mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah.)
The king told Amasa, “Call the people of Judah together for me, and in three days be here yourself.”
You rescued me from my conflicts with my people. You kept me as the leader of nations. A people I did not know will serve me.
May God strike me dead unless I do for David what the Lord had promised him with an oath:
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron. “We are your own flesh and blood,” they said.
The whole group of believers lived in harmony. No one called any of his possessions his own. Instead, they shared everything.
All the people of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from Gilead came to Mizpah. The congregation stood united in the presence of the Lord.