¹⁵ Joab and his troops came and surrounded Abel, so that no one could go in or come out. They made a dirt ramp up to the town wall and then started to use a battering ram to knock the wall down.

A Wise Woman Saves the Town

¹⁶ A wise woman shouted from the top of the wall,^[a] “Listen to me! Listen to me! I have to talk to Joab! Tell him to come here!” ¹⁷ When he came, the woman said, “Are you Joab?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

She said, “Please, listen to what I have to say.”

“All right,” he said. “I'll listen.”