2 Samuel 14

1 Siangpahrang mah Absalom to dawn parai boeh, tiah Zeruiah capa Joab mah panoek.

Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart longed for Absalom.

2 To pongah Joab mah Tekoa vangpui ah kami maeto patoeh moe, palungha nongpata maeto kawksak. To nongpata khaeah, Palungsae parai baktiah angsah paeh loe, palungsethaih khukbuen to angkhuk ah; na tak ah situi angnok hmah; kadueh kami nuiah palungsae parai kami baktiah angsah ah;

So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

3 siangpahrang khaeah caeh loe, hae tiah lokthui ah, tiah patuk.

Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 Tekoa vangpui ih nongpata loe siangpahrang khaeah caeh moe, a hmaa ah azat paekhaih hoiah long ah akuep pacoengah, Aw siangpahrang, na bom ah, tiah a naa.

When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”

5 Siangpahrang mah to nongpata khaeah, Tih raihaih maw na tawnh, tiah a naa. Anih mah, Kai loe lamhmai ah ka oh; ka sava loe duek ving boeh.

“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

6 Na tamna kai loe ca nongpa hnetto ka tawnh; nihnik loe lawk ah oh hoi moe, angboh hoi, maeto hoi maeto angboh hoi naah tapraekkung midoeh om ai; to naah maeto mah kalah maeto to boh maat.

And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

7 To pongah khenah, a imthung takoh boih na tamna kai khaeah angzoh o moe, Amya hum kami to tacawtsak ah, anih to amya hum zuengah ka hum o han; qawktoep kami doeh om ai ah ka hum o han, tiah ang naa o. To tiah sah o nahaeloe kanghmat kai ih hmaisa-ae doeh nihcae mah paduek o tih; ka sava ih ahmin hoi ka caa maeto doeh long ah om o sak mak ai, tiah a naa.

Now the whole clan has risen up against your maidservant and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of the brother whom he killed. Then we will cut off the heir as well!’ So they would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on the earth.”

8 Siangpahrang mah nongpata khaeah, Im ah amlaem ah; nang kawng to ka thuih han hmang, tiah a naa.

“Go home,” the king said to the woman, “and I will give orders on your behalf.”

9 Tekoa vangpui ih nongpata mah siangpahrang khaeah, Ka angraeng siangpahrang, Ahmin sethaih loe kaimah hoi kampa imthung takoh nuiah om nasoe, siangpahrang hoi siangpahrang ih angraeng tangkhang nuiah zaehaih om hmah nasoe, tiah a naa.

But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”

10 Siangpahrang mah, Mi kawbaktih doeh nang khaeah lokthui nahaeloe, anih to kai khaeah angzo haih ah, anih mah raihaih na paek let mak ai boeh, tiah a naa.

“If anyone speaks to you,” said the king, “bring him to me, and he will not trouble you again!”

11 To nongpata mah, To tiah nahaeloe athii tho pongah athii hnih kaminawk mah ka capa hum o han ai ah, siangpahrang mah Angraeng khaeah lokkamhaih sah pae nasoe, tiah a naa. To naah anih mah, Angraeng loe hing baktih toengah, na capa ih sam maeto mataeng doeh long ah angmuen mak ai, tiah a naa.

“Please,” she replied, “may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!” “As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”

12 To naah nongpata mah, na tamna kai hae siangpahrang khaeah lok vaito mah na thuisak raeh, tiah a naa. Anih mah thui khae, tiah a naa.

Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied.

13 To naah to nongpata mah, To tiah nahaeloe tipongah Sithaw kaminawk nuiah hae baktih hmuen na sak loe? Siangpahrang mah haek ih a capa to kawk let ai pongah, siangpahrang mah hae lokthuih naah, a sak ih zaehaih to panoek ai maw?

The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son?

14 Long ah bawh ih tui loe la let thai ai baktih toengah, aicae loe a duek o boih han oh; Sithaw loe kami mikhmai khethaih tawn ai; toe Anih loe a haek ih kami kawk lethaih loklam to a poek.

For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.

15 Kaminawk mah kai ang pazih o pongah, ka angraeng siangpahrang khaeah hae lokthuih hanah vaihi kang zoh. Na tamna kai mah, siangpahrang khaeah lok ka thuih han vop, a tamna mah thuih ih lok to siangpahrang mah na sah pae khoe doeh om tih.

Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant.

16 Sithaw mah paek ih qawktoephaih long hoiah paduek hanah patoem kami ih ban thung hoiah kaimah hoi ka capa, angmah ih tamna nongpata to pahlong khoe doeh om tih.

For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’

17 Vaihi na tamna kai hae, Ka angraeng siangpahrang ih lok mah monghaih na paek nasoe; ka angraeng siangpahrang loe, kasae kahoih poekthaih Sithaw ih van kami baktiah ni oh. To pongah na Angraeng Sithaw loe nang hoi nawnto om nasoe, tiah a naa.

And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel of God. May the LORD your God be with you.’”

18 To naah siangpahrang mah nongpata khaeah, Kang dueng ih lok to angphat hmah, tiah a naa. To naah nongpata mah, Ka angraeng siangpahrang, vaihi na thui ah, tiah a naa.

Then the king said to the woman, “I am going to ask you something; do not conceal it from me!” “Let my lord the king speak,” she replied.

19 To naah siangpahrang mah, Hae hmuen sak hanah Joab mah maw ang thuisak? tiah a dueng. Nongpata mah, Ka angraeng siangpahrang, nang na hing baktih toengah, ka angraeng siangpahrang mah thuih ih lok loe, mi mah doeh banqoi bantang pathui thai mak ai; Ue, na tamna Joab mah hae hmuennawk hae sak hanah ang pacae moe, na tamna mah thuih han koi loknawk doeh ang patuk.

So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.

20 Vaihi kaom hmuen baktiah sak hanah na tamna Joab mah ang thuih; ka angraeng nang loe Sithaw ih van kaminawk baktiah palunghahaih na tawnh pongah, long nuiah kaom hmuennawk to na panoek boih, tiah a naa.

Joab your servant has done this to bring about this change of affairs, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that happens in the land.”

21 To naah Joab khaeah, Khenah, hae hmuennawk ka paek boih boeh; Caeh loe, thendoeng Absalom to kawk let ah, tiah a naa.

Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

22 Joab mah khingyahaih hoiah long ah akuep moe, Ka angraeng siangpahrang, na tamna hnikhaih nang paroi pae pongah, na tamna loe ka angraeng siangpahrang hmaa ah mikcuk naakrak ah ka oh, tiah ka panoek, tiah anghoehaih lok to a thuih.

Joab fell facedown in homage and blessed the king. “Today,” said Joab, “your servant knows that he has found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted his request.”

23 To pacoengah Joab loe Geshur ah caeh moe, Absalom to Jerusalem ah amlaem haih let.

So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

24 Toe siangpahrang angmah, Ka mikhmai hnu ai ah, angmah ih im ah caeh poe nasoe, tiah a naa. To pongah Absalom loe siangpahrang mikhmai hnu ai ah, angmah im ah caeh poe.

But the king added, “He may return to his house, but he must not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the king.

25 Israel prae thung boih ah Absalom baktiah minawk mah pakoeh ih, kranghoih kami midoeh om ai. A khokpadae hoi a lu khoek to coek koi om ai.

Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.

26 Lu nui ih sam azit hmoek pongah, saning kruek sam to aah, a sam to tah naah siangpahrang im ih kazit tahhaih shekel cumvai hnetto oh.

And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard.

27 Absalom mah capa thumto hoi canu maeto sak; a canu loe Tamar, tiah ahmin phui moe, kranghoih parai.

Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.

28 Absalom loe siangpahrang mikhmai hnu ai ah saning hnetto thung Jerusalem vangpui ah oh.

Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king.

29 To pongah anih to siangpahrang khaeah caeh haih hanah, Absalom mah Joab khaeah kami patoeh; toe Joab mah anih khae caeh han angmak pae. Absalom mah anih kawk hanah kami patoeh let, toe caeh pae ai.

Then he sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So Absalom sent a second time, but Joab still would not come.

30 To pongah Absalom mah a tamnanawk khaeah, Khenah, Joab ih lawk loe kai ih lawk taengah oh, a lawk ah Barli cang to patit; caeh oh loe hmai hoi thlaek pae oh, tiah a naa. To pongah Absalom ih tamnanawk mah lawk to hmai hoiah thlaek pae o.

Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

31 To naah Joab loe angthawk moe, Absalom im ah caeh pacoengah anih khaeah, Tipongah na tamnanawk mah kai ih lawk hmai hoiah thlaek o loe? tiah a dueng.

Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

32 Absalom mah Joab khaeah, Khenah, Tipongah maw Geshur vangpui hoiah hae ah kang zoh? To vangpui ah vaihi khoek to ka oh vop hahaeloe hoi tih, tiah siangpahrang khaeah nang thuih pae hanah kang kawk. Vaihi siangpahrang ih mikhmai hnuk hanah ka koeh, ka sakpazaehaih om nahaeloe, na hum nasoe, tiah a naa.

“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”

33 To pongah Joab loe siangpahrang khaeah caeh moe, to lok to a thuih pae. To naah siangpahrang mah Absalom to kawk, anih loe siangpahrang khaeah caeh moe, a hmaa ah long ah akuep; to pacoengah siangpahrang mah Absalom to mok.

So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.