World English Bible
"Then she spoke, saying, "They were used to say in old times, 'They shall surely ask counsel at Abel;' and so they settled it."
— 2 Samuel 20:18, World English Bible
“Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.”
“Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter. ”
“She said,“In the past they would always say,‘Let them inquire in Abel,’ and that is how they settled things.”
“And she again said: A saying was used in the old proverb: They that inquire, let them inquire in Abela: and so they made an end.”
“Then she said, In the old days, there was a saying, Let them put the question in Abel and in Dan, saying, Has what was ordered by men of good faith in Israel ever come to an end?”
“Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.”
They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
Then a wise woman cried out of the city, "Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, 'Come near here, that I may speak with you.'"
He came near to her; and the woman said, "Are you Joab?" He answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Hear the words of your handmaid." He answered, "I do hear."
Then she spoke, saying, "They were used to say in old times, 'They shall surely ask counsel at Abel;' and so they settled it.
I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the inheritance of Yahweh?"
Joab answered, "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.
The matter is not so. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall."