2 Samuel 14

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

Intelligens autem Ioab filius Sarviae, quod cor regis versum esset ad Absalom,

2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray you, feign yourself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not yourself with oil, but be as a woman that had 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 iam plurimo tempore lugens mortuum:

3 And come 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 huiuscemodi. Posuit autem Ioab verba in ore eius.

4 And when the woman of Tekoah 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 ails you? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.

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

6 And your 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 slew him.

Et ancillae tuae 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 your 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 we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder on 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 heredem: et quaerunt extinguere scintillam meam, quae relicta est, ut non supersit viro meo nomen, et reliquiae super terram.

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

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

9 And the woman of Tekoah 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 eius sit innocens.

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

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

11 Then said she, I pray you, let the king remember the LORD your God, that you would not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.

Quae 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, I pray you, speak one 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 you thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king does speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king does not fetch home again his banished.

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

14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither does God respect any person: yet does he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

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

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

Nunc igitur veni, ut loquar ad dominum meum regem verbum hoc, praesente populo. Et dixit ancilla tua: Loquar ad regem, si quo modo faciat rex verbum ancillae suae.

16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that 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 hereditate Dei delere me, et filium meum simul.

17 Then your handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD your God will be 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 Then the king answered and said to the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the thing that I shall ask you. 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 not the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered and said, As your 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 your servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid:

Et ait rex: Numquid manus Ioab tecum est in omnibus istis? Respondit mulier, et ait: Per salutem animae tuae, domine mi rex, nec ad sinistram, nec ad dexteram est ex omnibus his, quae locutus est dominus meus rex: servus enim tuus Ioab, ipse praecepit mihi, et ipse posuit in os ancillae tuae omnia verba haec.

20 To fetch about this form of speech has your 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.

Ut verterem figuram sermonis huius, servus tuus Ioab praecepit 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 again.

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

22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.

Cadensque Ioab super faciem suam in terram, adoravit, et benedixit regi: et dixit Ioab: 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 Ioab et abiit in Gessur, et adduxit Absalom in Ierusalem.

24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not 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 But 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 Israel, et decorus nimis: a vestigio pedis usque ad verticem non erat in eo ulla macula.

26 And when he polled his head, (for 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.

Et quando tondebat capillum (semel autem in anno tondebatur, quia gravabat eum caesaries) 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 formae.

28 So Absalom dwelled two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face.

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

29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

Misit itaque ad Ioab, 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 Ioab iuxta agrum meum, habentem messem hordei: ite igitur, et succendite eum igni. Succenderunt ergo servi Absalom segetem igni. Et venientes servi Ioab, 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 your servants set my field on fire?

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

32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, Why am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king’s face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

Et respondit Absalom ad Ioab: 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 meae, 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 Ioab ad regem, nunciavit ei omnia: vocatusque est Absalom, et intravit ad regem, et adoravit super faciem terrae coram eo: osculatusque est rex Absalom.