2 Samuel 14

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

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

2 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.

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.

3 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].

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

4 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!”

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

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

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

6 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.

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.

7 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]”

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.”

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

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

9 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).”

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.”

10 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.”

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

11 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]”

“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.”

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

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

13 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.

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?

14 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.

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.

15 “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.

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.

16 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.’

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.’

17 “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.”

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.’”

18 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.”

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.

19 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.

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.

20 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].”

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.”

21 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].”

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

22 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.”

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.”

23 Then Joab got up and went to Geshur, and got Absalom and brought him back to Jerusalem.

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

24 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.

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.

25 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.

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.

26 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

29 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.

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.

30 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].

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.

31 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?”

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

32 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.’”

“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.”

33 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].

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.