2 Samuel 14

1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom.

Intelligens autem Joab filius Sarviæ quod cor regis versum esset ad Absalom,

2 And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray thee, and do not anoint thyself with oil, but be as a woman who has a long time mourned for the dead.

misit Thecuam, et tulit inde mulierem sapientem: dixitque ad eam: Lugere te simula, et induere veste lugubri, et ne ungaris oleo, ut sis quasi mulier jam plurimo tempore lugens mortuum:

3 And go in to the king, and speak on this manner to him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.

et ingredieris ad regem, et loqueris ad eum sermones hujuscemodi. Posuit autem Joab verba in ore ejus.

4 And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

Itaque cum ingressa fuisset mulier Thecuitis ad regem, cecidit coram eo super terram, et adoravit, et dixit: Serva me, rex.

5 And the king said to her, What troubles thee? And she answered, Of a truth I am a widow, and my husband is dead.

Et ait ad eam rex: Quid causæ habes? Quæ respondit: Heu, mulier vidua ego sum: mortuus est enim vir meus.

6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and killed him.

Et ancillæ tuæ erant duo filii: qui rixati sunt adversum se in agro, nullusque erat qui eos prohibere posset: et percussit alter alterum, et interfecit eum.

7 And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who smote his brother that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also. Thus they will quench my coal which is left, and will leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of the earth.

Et ecce consurgens universa cognatio adversum ancillam tuam, dicit: Trade eum qui percussit fratrem suum, ut occidamus eum pro anima fratris sui quem interfecit, et deleamus hæredem: et quærunt extinguere scintillam meam quæ relicta est, ut non supersit viro meo nomen, et reliquiæ super terram.

8 And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee.

Et ait rex ad mulierem: Vade in domum tuam, et ego jubebo pro te.

9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house, and the king and his throne be guiltless.

Dixitque mulier Thecuitis ad regem: In me, domine mi rex, sit iniquitas, et in domum patris mei: rex autem et thronus ejus sit innocens.

10 And the king said, Whoever says anything to thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.

Et ait rex: Qui contradixerit tibi, adduc eum ad me, et ultra non addet ut tangat te.

11 Then she said, I pray thee, let the king remember Jehovah thy God, that the avenger of blood not destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As Jehovah lives, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.

Quæ ait: Recordetur rex Domini Dei sui, ut non multiplicentur proximi sanguinis ad ulciscendum, et nequaquam interficiant filium meum. Qui ait: Vivit Dominus, quia non cadet de capillis filii tui super terram.

12 Then the woman said, Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

Dixit ergo mulier: Loquatur ancilla tua ad dominum meum regem verbum. Et ait: Loquere.

13 And the woman said, Why then have thou devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as he who is guilty, in that the king does not fetch home again his banished one.

Dixitque mulier: Quare cogitasti hujuscemodi rem contra populum Dei, et locutus est rex verbum istud, ut peccet, et non reducat ejectum suum?

14 For we must die, and are as water split on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, neither does God take away life, but devises means that he who is banished be not an outcast from him.

Omnes morimur, et quasi aquæ dilabimur in terram, quæ non revertuntur: nec vult Deus perire animam, sed retractat cogitans ne penitus pereat qui abjectus est.

15 Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid. And thy handmaid said, I will now speak to the king. It may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.

Nunc igitur veni, ut loquar ad dominum meum regem verbum hoc, præsente populo. Et dixit ancilla tua: Loquar ad regem, si quomodo faciat rex verbum ancillæ suæ.

16 For the king will hear to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

Et audivit rex, ut liberaret ancillam suam de manu omnium qui volebant de hæreditate Dei delere me, et filium meum simul.

17 Then thy handmaid said, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be gracious, for as an agent of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad. And Jehovah thy God be with thee.

Dicat ergo ancilla tua, ut fiat verbum domini mei regis sicut sacrificium. Sicut enim angelus Dei, sic est dominus meus rex, ut nec benedictione, nec maledictione moveatur: unde et Dominus Deus tuus est tecum.

18 Then the king answered and said to the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, anything that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

Et respondens rex, dixit ad mulierem: Ne abscondas a me verbum quod te interrogo. Dixitque ei mulier: Loquere, domine mi rex.

19 And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken, for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thy handmaid.

Et ait rex: Numquid manus Joab tecum est in omnibus istis? Respondit mulier, et ait: Per salutem animæ tuæ, domine mi rex, nec ad sinistram, nec ad dexteram est ex omnibus his quæ locutus est dominus meus rex: servus enim tuus Joab, ipse præcepit mihi, et ipse posuit in os ancillæ tuæ omnia verba hæc.

20 Thy servant Joab has done this thing to change the face of the matter. And my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an agent of God, to know all things that are on the earth.

Ut verterem figuram sermonis hujus, servus tuus Joab præcepit istud: tu autem, domine mi rex, sapiens es, sicut habet sapientiam angelus Dei, ut intelligas omnia super terram.

21 And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing. Go therefore, bring the young man Absalom back.

Et ait rex ad Joab: Ecce placatus feci verbum tuum: vade ergo, et revoca puerum Absalom.

22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king. And Joab said, Today thy servant knows that I have found favor in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.

Cadensque Joab super faciem suam in terram, adoravit, et benedixit regi: et dixit Joab: Hodie intellexit servus tuus quia inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, domine mi rex: fecisti enim sermonem servi tui.

23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

Surrexit ergo Joab et abiit in Gessur, et adduxit Absalom in Jerusalem.

24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and did not see the king's face.

Dixit autem rex: Revertatur in domum suam, et faciem meam non videat. Reversus est itaque Absalom in domum suam, et faciem regis non vidit.

25 Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty; from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

Porro sicut Absalom, vir non erat pulcher in omni Israël, et decorus nimis: a vestigio pedis usque ad verticem non erat in eo ulla macula.

26 And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it, because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.

Et quando tondebat capillum (semel autem in anno tondebatur, quia gravabat eum cæsaries), ponderabat capillos capitis sui ducentis siclis, pondere publico.

27 And to Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of a fair countenance.

Nati sunt autem Absalom filii tres, et filia una nomine Thamar, elegantis formæ.

28 And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and he did not see the king's face.

Mansitque Absalom in Jerusalem duobus annis, et faciem regis non vidit.

29 Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but he would not come to him. And he sent again a second time, but he would not come.

Misit itaque ad Joab, ut mitteret eum ad regem: qui noluit venire ad eum. Cumque secundo misisset, et ille noluisset venire ad eum,

30 Therefore he said to his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.

dixit servis suis: Scitis agrum Joab juxta agrum meum, habentem messem hordei: ite igitur, et succendite eum igni. Succenderunt ergo servi Absalom segetem igni. Et venientes servi Joab, scissis vestibus suis, dixerunt: Succenderunt servi Absalom partem agri igni.

31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said to him, Why have thy servants set my field on fire?

Surrexitque Joab, et venit ad Absalom in domum ejus, et dixit: Quare succenderunt servi tui segetem meam igni?

32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to thee, saying, Come here, that I may send thee to the king to say, Why have I come from Geshur? It were better for me to still be there. Now therefore let me see the king's face, and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me.

Et respondit Absalom ad Joab: Misi ad te obsecrans ut venires ad me, et mitterem te ad regem, et diceres ei: Quare veni de Gessur? melius mihi erat ibi esse: obsecro ergo ut videam faciem regis: quod si memor est iniquitatis meæ, interficiat me.

33 So Joab came to the king, and told him. And when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.

Ingressus itaque Joab ad regem, nuntiavit ei omnia: vocatusque est Absalom, et intravit ad regem, et adoravit super faciem terræ coram eo: osculatusque est rex Absalom.