And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”
And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”
do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?
Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.
The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.
Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.”
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.