¹⁶ a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Say to Joab, ‘Come closer so that I may speak with you.’ ” ¹⁷ When he came near, the woman said, “Are you Joab?”

He said, “I am.”

She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant,” and he said, “I’m listening.”

¹⁸ She said, “In former times, they would say, ‘Let them inquire carefully in Abel,’ and thus they would resolve an issue.