2 Samuel 14

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

When Joab the 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.

he sent to Tekoa and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, "Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave as a woman who has been mourning 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].

Go in to the king and say this to him." Then Joab told her what to say.

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!”

And the woman of Tekoa went to the king, and she bowed down with her face to the ground and showed respect, and said, "Help, O king."

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

And the king said to her, "What is your trouble?" And she replied, "Truly I am a widow, and 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 servant had two sons, and they both fought together in the field, and there was 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]”

Look, the whole family has risen against your servant, and they say, 'Give us the man who struck his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed.' Thus they would eliminate also the heir and the one ember I have left will be extinguished, and would leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.

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

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

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).”

For the king will hear and deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who is seeking to destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of the LORD.

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.”

Then your servant said, 'Please let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad. May the LORD, your God, be with you.'"

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]”

Then the king said, "Go to your house, and I will give a command concerning you."

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

The woman of Tekoa 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."

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

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.

Then she said, "Please let the king remember the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son." He said, "As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground."

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.

Then the woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." He said, "Say on."

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.’

The woman said, "Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of the LORD? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his exiled one.

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.”

For your son is dead, and as water spilled on the ground can't be gathered up again, so he can't bring his life back again. But it seems sensible to the king to keep his exiled one away from him."

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 answered and said to the woman, "Please do not hide from me anything that I ask you." And the woman said, "Let my lord the king speak."

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 said, "Did Joab put you up to all this?" The woman answered, "As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. Indeed, it was your servant Joab who had me do this, and he put all these words in the mouth of your servant.

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].”

Your servant Joab did this in order to change this situation. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of an angel of God for knowing things 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, "Look now, I have done according to your word. 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.”

Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground, and blessed the king. And Joab said, "Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant."

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

So Joab arose and 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.

The king said, "He must return to his own house, but he must not see my face." So Absalom returned to his own house, and did not see the king's face.

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.

Moreover, Absalom – in Israel no one was so much admired as he for his fine appearance. From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

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.

When he cut the hair of his head – now it was at the end of every year that he cut it, because it became too heavy, therefore he cut it – he weighed the hair of his head at one hundred shekels by the king's weight.

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

To Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She 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.

Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem; and he did not see the king's face.

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 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.

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].

Therefore he said to his servants, "Look, Joab's field is near mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire." Absalom's servants set the field on fire. And the servants of Joab came to him with their clothes rent, and they said to him, "The servants of Absalom have 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 arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said to him, "Why have 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.’”

And Absalom answered Joab, "Look, I sent to you, saying, 'Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, "Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there. Now therefore let me appear before the king. If I am guilty, put me to death.'"

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 to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. And he came to the king and bowed himself with his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.