Absalom had appointed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. Now Amasa [was] the son of a man whose name [was] Ithra the Israelite, {who had married} Abigail the daughter of Nahash the sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab.

To Amasa you shall say: '[Are] you not my bones and my flesh? {May God punish me} if you [are] not the commander of my army before me forever, in place of Joab.'"

Then the king said to Amasa, "Summon for me the men of Judah [within] three days, {and be here yourself}."

So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he tarried more than the appointed time which he had set for him.

They [were] near the big rock that [is] in Gibeon, and Amasa came before them. Joab {was dressed in his military clothing}, [with] a utility belt on him and a sword strapped to his waist in its scabbard. Now he went out, and it fell out.

Then Joab said to Amasa, "Is it peace, O you my brother?" Then the right hand of Joab took hold of the beard of Amasa [as if] to kiss him.

Now Amasa was not on his guard against the sword that [was] in Joab's hand, and he struck him with it into the stomach, and his entrails poured out to the ground. He did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bicri.

Now Amasa [was] wallowing in the blood in the middle of the highway; when the man saw that all the people stood [there], he turned Amasa over from the highway into the field, and he threw a garment over him because he had seen that all who had come by him had stopped.