2 Samuel 14

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

Joab realized that the king yearned [IDM] to see Absalom.

2 And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her: 'I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray thee, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead;

So Joab sent someone to Tekoa [town] to bring back a woman who was very clever. [When she arrived, ] Joab said to her, “Pretend that you are grieving because someone has died. Put on clothes that show that you are mourning. Do not put any lotion/ointment on your body. Act as if you are a woman who has been mourning for a long time.

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

And go to the king, and tell him what I tell you to say.” Then Joab told her what to say [MTY] [to the king].

4 And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and prostrated herself, and said: 'Help, O king.'

So the woman from Tekoa went to the king. She prostrated herself in front of him and then bowed down to him, and said, “Your Majesty, help me!”

5 And the king said unto her: 'What aileth thee?' And she answered: 'Of a truth I am a widow, my husband being dead.

The king replied, “What is your problem?” She replied, “Please, sir, I am a widow. My husband died [some time ago].

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.

I had two sons. But one day they quarreled with each other out in the fields. There was no one to separate them, and one of them struck the other one and killed him.

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

Now, all my family oppose me. They are insisting that I allow them to kill my son who is still alive [MTY], in order that they may get revenge for his killing his brother. But if they do that, I will not have any son to inherit [my husband’s possessions]. That would be like [MET] extinguishing the last coals of a fire, and my husband would not have a son to preserve our family’s name. [DOU]”

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

Then the king said to the woman, “Go back home; I will take care of this matter for you.”

9 And the woman of Tekoa said unto 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.'

The woman from Tekoa replied to the king, “Your Majesty, if you are criticized [for helping me], my family and I will accept the blame. You and the royal family will (be innocent/not have done what is wrong).”

10 And the king said: 'Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.'

The king said to her, “If anyone says anything [to threaten you/cause you trouble] you, bring that person to me, and [I will make sure that] he will never cause you trouble again.”

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

Then the woman said, “Your Majesty, please pray that Yahweh your God will not allow my relative, who [wants to get] revenge on my son for killing [MTY] his brother, to be able to do that.” David replied, “As surely as Yahweh lives, your son will not be harmed at all. [IDM]”

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

Then the woman said, “Your Majesty, please allow me to say one more thing to you.” He replied, “Speak!”

13 And the woman said: 'Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one that is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one.

The woman said, “Why have you done this bad thing to God’s people? You have not allowed your son Absalom to return home. By saying what you have just said, you have certainly declared [RHQ] that what you have done is wrong.

14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person; but let him devise means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.

We all die; we are like [SIM] water that cannot be picked up after it is spilled on the ground. But God does not just cause us to die; he creates ways to bring us back when we become separated from him.

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

“Now, Your Majesty, I have come to you because others have threatened me. So I said to myself, ‘I will go and talk to the king, and perhaps he will do what I request him to do.

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

Perhaps he will listen to me, and save me from the man who is trying to kill my son. If my son is killed, it would result in us disappearing from the land that God gave to us.’

17 Then thy handmaid said: Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be for my comfort; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad; and the LORD thy God be with thee.'

“And I thought, ‘What the king says will comfort/encourage me, because the king is like [SIM] an angel of God. He knows what is good and what is evil.’ I pray/desire that Yahweh our God will (be with/direct) you.”

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

Then the king said to the woman, “I will now ask you a question. Answer it, and tell me the truth. [LIT]” The woman replied, “Your majesty, ask your question.”

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

The king said, “Was Joab the one who told you to do this?” She replied, “Yes, Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I cannot avoid telling you what is true. Yes, indeed, it was Joab who told me to come here, and who told me what to say.

20 to change the face of the matter hath thy servant Joab done this thing; and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.'

He did it in order to cause you to think differently about this matter. Your Majesty, you are as wise as God’s angels, and [it seems that] you know everything [that happens] on the earth, [so you know why Joab sent me here].”

21 And the king said unto Joab: 'Behold now, I have granted this request; go therefore, bring the young man Absalom back.'

Then the king [summoned] Joab [and] said to him, “Listen! I have decided to do [what you want]. So go and get that young man Absalom and bring him back [to Jerusalem].”

22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and prostrated himself, and blessed the king; and Joab said: 'To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found favour in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath performed the request of thy servant.'

Joab prostrated himself on the ground, and then he bowed down before the king, and [asked God to] bless him. Then Joab said, “Your Majesty, today I know that you are pleased with me, because you have agreed to do what I requested.”

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

Then Joab got up and went to Geshur, and got Absalom and brought him back to 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 saw not the king's face.

But the king said/commanded that Absalom would not be permitted to live in the palace. He said, “I do not want him to come to see me.” So Absalom lived in his own house, and did not go to [talk to] the king.

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.

Absalom was very handsome. He looked perfect, from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. In all of Israel there was no one whom people admired more than Absalom.

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

His hair was very thick, and he cut it only once each year, when it became too heavy for him. Using the standard weights, he would weigh the hair [that he cut off], and it always weighed about five pounds.

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

Absalom had three sons and one daughter named Tamar. She was a very beautiful woman.

28 And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem; and he saw not the kings face.

[After] Absalom [returned to] Jerusalem, he lived there two years, and during that time he never [was allowed to] see the king.

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.

So he sent [a messenger] to Joab to ask him to come [and talk to him], but Joab refused to come. So Absalom sent [a message to him] a second time, but he still would not come.

30 Therefore he said unto his servants: 'See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire.' And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.

Then Absalom said to his servants, “You know that Joab’s field is next to mine, and that he has barley [growing] there. Go and light a fire there [to burn his barley].” So Absalom’s servants [went there and] lit a fire, [and all his barley burned].

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

Joab [knew who had done it, so he] went to Absalom’s house and said to him, “Why have your servants burned [the barley in] my field?”

32 And Absalom answered Joab: 'Behold, I sent unto thee, saying: Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say: Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it were better for me to be there still; now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me.'

Absalom replied, “Because [you did not come to me when] I sent messages to you [requesting that you come]. I wanted to request that you go to the king to say to him, ‘Absalom (wants to know what good it did/says that is was useless) [RHQ] for him [RHQ] to leave Geshur and come here. [He thinks that] it would have been better for him to have stayed there. [He wants you to] allow him to talk to you. And if you think that he has done something that is wrong, you can [command that] he be executed.’”

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.

So Joab went to the king, and told him [what Absalom had said]. Then the king [summoned Absalom], and he came to the king and knelt down in front of him with his face touching the ground. Then the king kissed Absalom [to show that he was pleased to see him].