1 Sheba Leads Israel Away from David It happened that a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bicri was there. Sheba was from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew the trumpet and said: “We have no share in David! We have no part in the son of Jesse! People of Israel, let’s go to our own homes!”

2 So all the Israelites left David and followed Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stayed with their king all the way from the Jordan River to Jerusalem.

3 David came to his palace in Jerusalem. Earlier he had left there ten of his slave women who gave birth to his children. He had left them there to take care of the palace. Now he put them in a house where they would be guarded. They were kept there for the rest of their lives. David gave them food, but he did not have physical relations with them. They lived like widows until they died.