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 desired to see 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 word to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought to him. He said to her, “Please pretend you are a mourner and put on mourning clothes. Please do not anoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.

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 to him about what I will describe.” So Joab told her the words she was to say to the king.

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 spoke to the king, she lay facedown on the ground and said, “Help me, king.”

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

The king said to her, “What is wrong?” She answered, “The truth is that 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.

I, your servant, had two sons, and they fought together in the field, and there was no one to separate them. 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 against your servant, and they say, 'Give into our hand the man who struck his brother, so that we may put him to death, to pay for the life of his brother whom he killed.' So they would also destroy the heir. Thus they will put out the burning coal that I have left, and they will leave for my husband neither name nor descendant on the surface of the earth.”

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

So the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will command something to be done for you.”

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).”

The woman of Tekoa replied to the king, “My master, king, may the guilt be on me and on my father's family. The king and his throne are 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.”

The king replied, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you anymore.”

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 she said, “Please, may the king call to mind Yahweh your God, so that the avenger of blood will not destroy anyone further, so that they will not destroy my son.” The king replied, “As Yahweh lives, not one hair of your son 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 let your servant speak a further word to my master the king.” He said, “Speak on.”

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.

So the woman said, “Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? For in saying this thing, the king is like someone who is guilty, because the king has not brought back home again his 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 we all must die, and we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life; instead, he finds a way for those who were driven away to be restored.

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 then, seeing that I have come to speak this thing to my master the king, it is because the people have made me afraid. So your servant said to herself, 'I will now speak to the king. It may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.

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.’

Perhaps the king will listen to me and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together, out of the inheritance God gave us.'

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.”

Then your servant prayed, 'Yahweh, please let the word of my master the king give me relief, for as an angel of God, so is my master the king in telling good from evil.' May Yahweh 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 answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything that I will ask you.” The woman replied, “Let my master the king now 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.

The king said, “Is not the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, “As you live, my master the king, no one can escape to the right hand or to the left from anything that my master the king has spoken. It was your servant Joab who commanded me and told me to say these things that your servant has spoken.

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 has done this to change the course of what is happening. My master is wise, like the wisdom of an angel of God, and he knows everything that is happening 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].”

So the king said to Joab, “Look now, I will do this thing. Go then, and bring the young man Absalom back.”

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.”

So Joab lay facedown on the ground in honor and gratitude to the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my master, king, in that the king has performed 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, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back 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 may return to his own house, but he may not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but 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.

Now in all Israel there was no one praised for his handsomeness more than Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top 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 at the end of every year, because it was heavy on him, he weighed his hair; it would weigh about two hundred shekels, which is measured by the weight of the king's standard.

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

To Absalom 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, without seeing 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 word for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. So Absalom sent word a second time, but Joab still did 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].

So Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab's field is near mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” So 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 arose and came to Absalom at 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.’”

Absalom answered Joab, “Look, I sent word to you saying, 'Come here so I may send you to the king to say, “Why did I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to still be there. Now therefore let me see the king's face, and if I am guilty, 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 to the king and told him. When the king called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed low to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.