2 Samuel 14

1 Joab, son of Zeruiah, knew that the king kept on thinking about Absalom.

And Joab the son of Saruia knew that the heart of the king was towards Abessalom.

2 So Joab sent a messenger to Tekoa to bring back a wise woman who lived there. He told her, “Pretend to be a mourner. Put on clothes for mourning, and don't use any scented oils. Be like a woman who has been in mourning for the dead a long time.

And Joab sent to Thecoe, and took thence a cunning woman, and said to her, Mourn, I pray you, and put on mourning apparel, and anoint you not with oil, and you shall be as a woman mourning for one that is dead thus for many days.

3 Then go to the king and tell him this.” Joab told her what to say.

And you shall go to the king, and speak to him according to this word. And Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman from Tekoa went to see the king, she bowed facedown to the ground in respect, and said, “Please help me, Your Majesty!”

So the woman of Thecoe went in to the king and fell upon her face to the earth, and did him obeisance, and said, Help, O king, help.

5 “What's the matter?” the king asked her. “Sadly I'm a widow. My husband is dead,” she replied.

And the king said to her, What is the matter with you? And she said, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.

6 “Your Majesty, I had two sons. They had a fight outside, and there was nobody there to stop them. One of them hit the other, and killed him.

And moreover your handmaid had two sons, and they fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them; and the one struck the other his brother, and killed him.

7 Now the whole family is against me. They're saying, ‘Hand over your son who killed his brother so we can put him to death for murdering his brother. That way he won't inherit anything either!’ By doing this they would snuff out the last ember of hope I have to carry on my husband's name and family in the world.”

And behold the whole family rose up against your handmaid, and they said, Give up the one that struck his brother, and we will put him to death for the life of his brother, whom he killed, and we will take away even your heir: so they will quench my coal that is left, so as not to leave my husband remnant or name on the face of the earth.

8 “Go on home,” the king told the woman, “and I myself will make sure your case is dealt with for you.”

And the king said to the woman, Go in peace to your house, and I will give commandment concerning you.

9 “Thank you, Your Majesty,” said the woman. “I and my family will take the blame, and may Your Majesty and your family be held to be innocent.”

And the woman of Thecoe said to the king, On me, my lord, O king, and on my father's house [be] the iniquity, and the king and his throne [be] guiltless.

10 “If anyone complains to you about it, bring him here to me, and he won't bother you again!” the king told her.

And the king said, Who was it that spoke to you? you shall even bring him to me, and [one] shall not touch him any more.

11 “Please, Your Majesty,” the woman continued, “swear by the Lord your God that you will stop the person wanting to avenge the murder from making it worse by killing my son!” “As the Lord lives,” he promised, “not a single hair from your son's head will fall to the ground.”

And she said, Let now the king remember concerning his Lord God in that the avenger of blood is multiplied to destroy, and let them not take away my son. And he said, [As] the lord lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground.

12 “Could I please ask for one other thing, Your Majesty?” the woman asked. “Go ahead,” he replied.

And the woman said, Let now your servant speak a word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

13 “So why have you schemed in a similar way against the people of God?” the woman asked. “Since Your Majesty just decided my case by what you said, haven't you convicted yourself because you refuse to bring back the son you banished?

And the woman said, Why have you devised this thing against the people of God? or [is] this word out of the king's mouth as a transgression, so that the king should not bring back his banished?

14 Yes, we all have to die. We're like water spilled on the ground that can't be collected again. But that's not what God does. Instead he works out ways for anyone who is banished to come back home to him.

For we shall surely die, and be as water poured upon the earth, which shall not be gathered up, and God shall take the life, even as he devises to thrust forth from him his outcast.

15 That's why I've come to explain this to Your Majesty, because someone has frightened me. So I thought to myself, I will go and speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant my request.

And now whereas I came to speak this word to my lord the king, [the reason is] that the people will see me, and your handmaid will say, Let one now speak to my lord the king, if perhaps the king will perform the request of his handmaid;

16 Perhaps the king will listen and save me from the man who would cut off both me and my son from God's chosen people.

for the king will hear. Let him rescue his handmaid out of the hand of the man that seeks to cast out me and my son from the inheritance of God.

17 I thought: May what Your Majesty says bring me peace, for Your Majesty is able to tell the difference between good and evil, just like an angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you!”

And the woman said, If now the word of my lord the king be gracious, —[well]: for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, to hear good and evil: and the Lord your God shall be with you.

18 “Please don't refuse to answer the question I'm about to ask,” the king said to the woman. “Please ask your question, Your Majesty,” she replied.

And the king answered, and said to the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the matter which I ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king by all means speak.

19 “Is all this Joab's doing?” the king asked. The woman replied, “As you live, Your Majesty, no one can hide anything from you. Yes, it was Joab, your officer, who ordered me to do this—he told me exactly what to say.

And the king said, [Is] not the hand of Joab in all this matter with you? and the woman said to the king, [As] your soul lives, my lord, O king, there is no turning to the right hand or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab himself charged me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid.

20 He did so to show the other side of the situation, but Your Majesty is as wise as an angel of God, and you know everything that happens in this country.”

In order that this form of speech might come about [it was] that your servant Joab has framed this matter: and my lord is wise as [is] the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

21 The king said to Joab, “Fine, I'll do it. Go and bring young Absalom back.”

And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done to you according to this your word: go, bring back the young man Abessalom.

22 Joab bowed down with his face to the ground in respect, and blessed the king. “Today,” said Joab, “I, your servant, know that you approve of me, Your Majesty, because you have granted my request.”

And Joab fell on his face to the ground, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, for my lord the king has performed the request of his servant.

23 Joab went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

And Joab arose, and went to Gedsur, and brought Abessalom to Jerusalem.

24 But the king gave this order, “He may return to his home, but he's not to come and see me.” So Absalom returned to his own home, but he didn't go and see the king.

And the king said, Let him return to his house, and not see my face. And Abessalom returned to his house, and saw not the king's face.

25 Absalom was admired as the most handsome man in the whole of Israel. He didn't have a single blemish from head to toe.

And there was not a man in Israel so very comely as Abessalom: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

26 He cut his hair every year because it got so heavy—it weighed two hundred royal shekels.

And when he polled his head, (and it was at the beginning of every year that he polled it, because it grew, heavy upon him, ) even when he polled it, he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels according to the royal shekel.

27 He had three sons, and a daughter named Tamar—a very beautiful woman.

And there were born to Abessalom three sons and one daughter, and her name was Themar: she was a very beautiful woman, and she becomes the wife of Roboam son of Solomon, and she bears to him Abia.

28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years but was not permitted to see the king.

And Abessalom remained in Jerusalem two full years, and he saw not the king's face.

29 Absalom called Joab to arrange for him to see the king, for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come. Absalom called Joab again, but Joab still wouldn't come.

And Abessalom sent to Joab to bring him in to the king, and he would not come to him: and he sent to him the second time, and he would not come.

30 So Absalom told his servants, “Look, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley growing there. Go and set it on fire!” Absalom's servants went and set the field on fire.

And Abessalom said to his servants, Behold, Joab's portion in the field [is] next to mine, and he has in it barley; go and set it on fire. And the servants of Abessalom set the field on fire: and the servants of Joab come to him with their clothes tore, and they said to him, The servants of Abessalom have set the field on fire.

31 Joab went to Absalom's house and asked “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

And Joab arose, and came to Abessalom into the house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?

32 “Look here,” said Absalom, “I sent for you, saying, ‘Come here. I want you to go to the king and ask: Why did I bother coming back from Geshur? It would have been better for me to stay there.’ So go and arrange for me to see the king, and if I'm guilty of anything, he can kill me.”

And Abessalom said to Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come hither, and I will send you to the king, saying, Why did I come out of Gedsur? it would have been better for me to have remained there: and now, behold, I have not seen the face of the king; but if there is iniquity in me, then put me to death.

33 So Joab went and told the king what Absalom had said. Then David summoned Absalom, who came and bowed down with his face to the ground before him in respect. Then the king kissed Absalom.

And Joab went in to the king, and brought him word: and he called Abessalom, and he went in to the king, and did him obeisance, and fell upon his face to the ground, even in the presence of the king; and the king kissed Abessalom.