2 Samuel 14
1 Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, understood that the heart of the king had been turned toward Absalom,
Intelligens autem Joab filius Sarviæ quod cor regis versum esset ad Absalom,
2 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.
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 you shall enter to the king, and you shall speak words to him in this manner.” Then 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 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.”
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 problem do you have?” And she responded: “Alas, I am a woman who is a widow. For my husband has died.
Et ait ad eam rex: Quid causæ habes? Quæ respondit: Heu, mulier vidua ego sum: mortuus est enim vir meus.
6 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.
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, 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.”
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 your own house, and I will make a decree on your behalf.”
Et ait rex ad mulierem: Vade in domum tuam, et ego jubebo pro te.
9 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.”
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 will contradict you, bring him to me, and he will never touch you again.”
Et ait rex: Qui contradixerit tibi, adduc eum ad me, et ultra non addet ut tangat te.
11 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.”
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 your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.”
Dixit ergo mulier: Loquatur ancilla tua ad dominum meum regem verbum. Et ait: Loquere.
13 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?
Dixitque mulier: Quare cogitasti hujuscemodi rem contra populum Dei, et locutus est rex verbum istud, ut peccet, et non reducat ejectum suum?
14 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.
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 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.
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 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.
Et audivit rex, ut liberaret ancillam suam de manu omnium qui volebant de hæreditate Dei delere me, et filium meum simul.
17 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.”
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 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.”
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 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.
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 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.”
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, your word has succeeded in appeasing me. Therefore, go and call back the boy Absalom.”
Et ait rex ad Joab: Ecce placatus feci verbum tuum: vade ergo, et revoca puerum Absalom.
22 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.”
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 Then Joab rose up, and he went away to Geshur. And he brought Absalom into Jerusalem.
Surrexit ergo Joab et abiit in Gessur, et adduxit Absalom in Jerusalem.
24 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.
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 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.
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 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.
Et quando tondebat capillum (semel autem in anno tondebatur, quia gravabat eum cæsaries), ponderabat capillos capitis sui ducentis siclis, pondere publico.
27 Then three sons were born to Absalom, and one daughter, of elegant form, whose name was Tamar.
Nati sunt autem Absalom filii tres, et filia una nomine Thamar, elegantis formæ.
28 And Absalom remained for two years in Jerusalem, and he did not see the face of the king.
Mansitque Absalom in Jerusalem duobus annis, et faciem regis non vidit.
29 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,
Misit itaque ad Joab, ut mitteret eum ad regem: qui noluit venire ad eum. Cumque secundo misisset, et ille noluisset venire ad eum,
30 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!”
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 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?”
Surrexitque Joab, et venit ad Absalom in domum ejus, et dixit: Quare succenderunt servi tui segetem meam igni?
32 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.”
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 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.
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.
