Say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my own flesh and blood? You will be the commander of my army for life in place of Joab. If that isn’t true, may God punish me greatly.’ ”
David said to Abishai, “Sheba, the son of Bikri, will do more harm to us than Absalom ever did. Take my men and go after him. If you don’t, he’ll find cities that have high walls around them. He’ll go into one of them and escape from us.”