2 Samuel 14

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

Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, understood that the heart of the king had been turned toward Absalom,

2 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.

so he sent to Tekoa, and he brought from there a wise woman. And he said to her: “Feign that you are in mourning, and put on the clothing of one who mourns. And do not anoint yourself with oil, so that you may be like a woman who is still grieving for someone who died some time ago.

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

And you shall enter to the king, and you shall speak words to him in this manner.” Then Joab put the words in her mouth.

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

And so, when the woman of Tekoa had entered to the king, she fell before him on the ground, and she reverenced, and she said, “Save me, O king.”

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

And the king said to her, “What problem do you have?” And she responded: “Alas, I am a woman who is a widow. For my husband has died.

6 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.

And your handmaid had two sons. And they quarreled against one another in the field. And there was no one there who would be able to stop them. And one struck the other, and killed him.

7 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.”

And behold, the whole family, rising up against your handmaid, said: ‘Deliver him who struck down his brother, so that we may kill him for the life of his brother, whom he killed, and so that we may do away with the heir.’ And they are seeking to extinguish my spark that is left, so that there may not survive a name for my husband, nor a remnant upon the earth.”

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

And the king said to the woman, “Go to your own house, and I will make a decree on your behalf.”

9 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.”

And the woman of Tekoa said to the king: “May the iniquity be upon me, my lord, and upon the house of my father. But may the king and his throne be innocent.”

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

And the king said, “Whoever will contradict you, bring him to me, and he will never touch you again.”

11 “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.”

And she said, “Let the king remember the Lord his God, so that close blood relatives may not be multiplied in order to take revenge, and so that they may by no means kill my son.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair from your son shall fall to the ground.”

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

Then the woman said, “Let your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.”

13 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?

And the woman said: “Why have you thought such a thing against the people of God, and why has the king spoken this word, so that he sins and does not lead back the one whom he rejected?

14 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.

We are all dying, and we are all like waters that flow into the ground and do not return. God does not will to lose a soul. Instead, he renews his efforts, thinking that what has been rejected might not perish altogether.

15 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.

Therefore, now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, in the presence of the people. And your handmaid said: I will speak to the king, for perhaps there may be some way for the king to accomplish the word of his handmaid.

16 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.’

And the king listened, and he freed his handmaid from the hand of all who were willing to take away me and my son together, from the inheritance of God.

17 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.’”

Therefore, let your handmaid speak, so that the word of my lord the king may be like a sacrifice. For even like an Angel of God, so is my lord the king, so that he is moved by neither a blessing, nor a curse. Then too, the Lord your God is with you.”

18 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.

And in response, the king said to the woman, “You shall not conceal from me a word of what I ask you.” And the woman said to him, “Speak, my lord the king.”

19 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.

And the king said, “Is not the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said: “By the welfare of your soul, my lord the king, it is neither to the left, nor to the right, in all these things that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab himself instructed me, and he himself placed all these words in the mouth of your handmaid.

20 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.”

Thus did I turn to this figure of speech, because your servant Joab instructed it. But you, my lord the king, are wise, just as an Angel of God has wisdom, so that you understand all that is upon the earth.”

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

And the king said to Joab: “Behold, your word has succeeded in appeasing me. Therefore, go and call back the boy Absalom.”

22 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.”

And falling to the ground upon his face, Joab reverenced, and he blessed the king. And Joab said: “Today your servant has understood that I have found grace in your sight, my lord the king. For you have accomplished the word of your servant.”

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

Then Joab rose up, and he went away to Geshur. And he brought Absalom into Jerusalem.

24 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.

But the king said, “Let him return to his own house, but let him not see my face.” And so, Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the face of the king.

25 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.

Now in all of Israel, there was no man so handsome, and so very stately as Absalom. From the sole of the foot to the top of the head, there was no blemish in him.

26 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.

And when he shaved off his hair, for he shaved it off once a year, because his long hair was burdensome to him, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, by the public weights.

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

Then three sons were born to Absalom, and one daughter, of elegant form, whose name was Tamar.

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

And Absalom remained for two years in Jerusalem, and he did not see the face of the king.

29 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.

And so, he sent to Joab, so that he might send him to the king. But he refused to come to him. And when he had sent a second time, and he had refused to come to him,

30 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.

he said to his servants: “You know that the field of Joab, the one that is near my field, has a harvest of barley. Therefore, go and set it on fire.” And so, the servants of Absalom set fire to the grain field. And the servants of Joab, arriving with their garments torn, said, “The servants of Absalom have set fire to part of the field!”

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

And Joab rose up, and he went to Absalom at his house, and he said, “Why have your servants set fire to my grain field?”

32 “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.”

And Absalom responded to Joab: “I sent to you, begging that you might come to me, and that I might send you to the king, and that you might say to him: ‘Why was I brought from Geshur? It would have been better for me to be there.’ I beg you, therefore, that I may see the face of the king. And if he is mindful of my iniquity, let him put me to death.”

33 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.

And so, Joab, entering to the king, reported everything to him. And Absalom was summoned. And he entered to the king, and he reverenced on the face of the earth. And the king kissed Absalom.