2 Samuel 3:29-31

Contemporary English Version

²⁹Joab and his family are the guilty ones. I pray that Joab's family will always be sick with sores and other skin diseases. May they all be cowards,^[a] and may they die in war or starve to death.”

³⁰Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

³¹David told Joab and everyone with him, “Show your sorrow by tearing your clothes and wearing sackcloth!^[b] Walk in front of Abner's body and cry!”

David walked behind the stretcher on which Abner's body was being carried.

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Footnotes

3.29 cowards: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
3.31 sackcloth: Sackcloth was a rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat or camel hair and was used to make grain sacks. People wore sackcloth or tore their clothes in times of trouble or sorrow.