2 Samuel 14
1 Na Yoab hunuu sɛ ɔhene pɛ sɛ ɔhunu Absalom.
When Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart longed for Absalom,
2 Enti, ɔsoma ma wɔkɔɔ Tekoa kɔfaa ɔbaa nyansafoɔ bi a wagye edin yie brɛɛ no. Yoab ka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Hyɛ da yɛ wo ho sɛ wowɔ ayie mu, na fira ayitoma. Nnware anaa mfa aduhwam mpete wo ho nso. Yɛ wo ho sɛ ɔbaa a wadi awerɛhoɔ nna bebree.
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 Na kɔ ɔhene nkyɛn kɔka asɛm a merebɛka akyerɛ wo yi kyerɛ no.” Na Yoab kaa asɛm a ɔpɛ sɛ ɔbaa no kɔka no kyerɛɛ no.
Go in to the king and say this to him." Then Joab told her what to say.
4 Na Tekoani baa no duruu ɔhene no anim no, ɔhwee fam de nʼanim butuu fam teaam sɛ, “Ao Nana! Boa 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 Ɔhene no bisaa no sɛ, “Ɛyɛ asɛm bɛn?” Ɔbuaa no sɛ, “Meyɛ okunafoɔ.
And the king said to her, "What is your trouble?" And she replied, "Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead.
6 Me mma baanu kɔdii ako wɔ akono. Na ɛsiane sɛ na obiara nni hɔ a ɔbɛpata ɔko no enti, wɔkumm wɔn mu baako.
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 Nanso, abusua no nkaeɛ no bisaa sɛ, ‘Ma yɛn nsa nka wo ba no. Yɛbɛkum no, ɛfiri sɛ, woakum ne nuabarima. Ɔmfata sɛ ɔbɛdi efie agyapadeɛ so.’ Na sɛ meyɛ saa nso a, na menni obiara a waka, na me kunu din ne me fie bɛyera wɔ asase so ha.”
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 Ɔhene ka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Gyae asɛm no ma me. Kɔ efie na mɛhwɛ sɛ obiara remfa ne nsa nka no.”
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 Ɔkaa sɛ, “Ao, me wura, meda wo ase. Na sɛ mmoa a woaboa me yi enti, sɛ obi kasa tia wo a, mɛfa ho soboɔ no.”
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 Ɔhene no kaa sɛ, “Mma yei nha wo. Sɛ nnipa bi mpene a, fa wɔn brɛ me wɔ ha. Na mɛtumi ama wo awerɛhyɛmu sɛ, obiara nwiinwii wɔ ho bio.”
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 Afei, ɔbaa no kaa sɛ, “Fa Awurade, wo Onyankopɔn, no din ka ntam kyerɛ me sɛ, woremma obiara ntɔ me babarima no so were. Merenhwehwɛ mogyahwieguo bio.” Ɔhene no nso kaa sɛ, “Mmerɛ dodoɔ a Awurade te ase yi, wo ba no tirinwi a ɛwɔ ne tiri so mu baako mpo ho renka.”
Then the king said, "Go to your house, and I will give a command concerning you."
12 Afei, ɔbaa no kaa sɛ, “Ma wo ɔsomfoɔ nka biribi nkyerɛ me wura ɔhene.” Ɔbuaa sɛ, “Kɔ so kasa.”
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 Ɔbaa no bisaa sɛ, “Adɛn enti na wonyɛ mma Onyankopɔn nkurɔfoɔ sɛdeɛ wɔahyɛ bɔ sɛ wobɛyɛ ama me no. Woabu wo ho fɔ sɛ woasi saa gyinaeɛ yi. Wompɛ sɛ woma wʼankasa wo ba a wɔatwa no asuo no ba efie.
The king said, "Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you any more."
14 Sɛ ɛkɔsi sɛn ara, obiara bɛwu. Na sɛdeɛ nsuo hwie gu fam a wosesa a ɛnyɛ yie no, saa ara na nkwa teɛ. Ɛno enti na Onyankopɔn sane de yɛn ba ne nkyɛn ɛberɛ a yɛate yɛn ho afiri ne ho no. Wɔn a ɔhwɛ wɔn no, ɔmma wɔnnhwere wɔn kra; enti wo nso, ɛnsɛ sɛ woyɛ saa.
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 “Na maba sɛ merebɛdi ama me babarima, ɛfiri sɛ, wɔde owuo hunahuna me ne me ba no. Meka kyerɛɛ me ho sɛ, ‘Ebia, ɔhene bɛtie me,
Then the woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." He said, "Say on."
16 na wagye yɛn afiri wɔn a wɔbɛtwa yɛn afiri Onyankopɔn nkurɔfoɔ ho no nsam.’
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 “Aane, ɔhene no bɛma yɛn asomdwoeɛ bio. ‘Menim sɛ wote sɛ Onyankopɔn ɔbɔfoɔ a wobɛtumi ahunu papa ne bɔne ntam nsonsonoeɛ. Awurade, wo Onyankopɔn, nka wo ho.’”
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 Ɔhene bisaa sɛ, “Mepɛ sɛ mehunu adeɛ baako.” Ɔbaa no kaa sɛ, “Ɛyɛ ɛdeɛn, me wura?”
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 Na ɔhene no bisaa sɛ, “Yoab na ɔsomaa wo ha anaa?” Ɔbaa no buaa sɛ, “Me wura, Daasebrɛ, ɛbɛyɛ dɛn na matwa yei ho atorɔ? Obiara ntumi mfa biribiara nhinta wo. Ɛyɛ nokorɛ sɛ Yoab na ɔsomaa me, na ɔkyerɛɛ me asɛm a menka.
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 Ɔyɛɛ saa, sɛdeɛ mɛfa ɛkwan foforɔ so de saa asɛm yi ato wʼanim. Na wo nso, wonim nyansa te sɛ Onyankopɔn ɔbɔfoɔ, na biribiara a ɛsi yɛn ntam ha no nso, wote aseɛ.”
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 Enti, ɔhene no soma ma wɔkɔfaa Yoab baeɛ, na ɔka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Ɛyɛ, kɔ na kɔfa aberanteɛ Absalom bra.”
Then the king said to Joab, "Look now, I have done according to your word. Go, bring back the young man Absalom."
22 Yoab hwee ɔhene no nan ase, hyiraa no sɛ, “Ne korakora mu no, woapene me so, na woayɛ mʼabisadeɛ ama me.”
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 Na Yoab kɔɔ Gesur kɔfaa Absalom baa Yerusalem.
So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
24 Nanso, ɔhene maa ahyɛdeɛ yi sɛ, “Absalom tumi kɔ ɔno ankasa ne fie, nanso ɔnhwɛ na wamma mʼanim ha.” Enti, Absalom anhunu ɔhene no.
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 Israel nyinaa, na obiara nni hɔ a ne ho yɛ fɛ, te sɛ Absalom. Ɛfiri ne tiri so kɔsi ne nan ase, na wohunu sɛ ɔyɛ ɔbarima ankasa.
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 Afe biara, na ɔyi ne ti pɛnkorɔ, ɛfiri sɛ, ne nwi no yɛ adesoa ma no. Na sɛ ɔyi na ɔkari a, na ɛyɛ kilogram mmienu ne fa.
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 Na ɔwɔ mmammarima baasa ne ɔbabaa baako. Na ne babaa no din de Tamar. Na Tamar nso kura ahoɔfɛ a ɛmma ɔka.
To Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman.
28 Absalom tenaa Yerusalem mfeɛ mmienu a wanhunu ɔhene no da.
Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem; and he did not see the king's face.
29 Afei, Absalom soma kɔfrɛɛ Yoab sɛ ɔnkɔka bi mma no, nanso Yoab ankɔ. Absalom somaa ne mprenu so, nanso Yoab ankɔ.
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 Ɛno enti, Absalom ka kyerɛɛ nʼasomfoɔ sɛ, “Monkɔ na momfa ogya nkɔto Yoab atokoɔ afuo a ɛbɛn me deɛ no ho mu.” Na wɔde ogya kɔtoo afuo no mu, sɛdeɛ Absalom hyɛɛ wɔn sɛ wɔnyɛ no.
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 Na Yoab baa Absalom nkyɛn bɛbisaa no sɛ, “Adɛn enti na wʼasomfoɔ akɔto mʼafuo mu ogya?”
Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said to him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?"
32 Na Absalom buaa no sɛ, “Ɛfiri sɛ, na mepɛ sɛ wokɔbisa ɔhene ma me sɛ, adɛn enti na ɔmaa me sane firi Gesur baeɛ, nanso ɔmpɛ sɛ ɔhunu mʼanim koraa? Ɛnneɛ, sɛ anka metenaa me dada mu hɔ ara a, anka ɛyɛ. Ma menhunu ɔhene no, na sɛ medi fɔ wɔ biribi ho a, ɔtumi kum me.”
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 Enti, Yoab kaa asɛm a Absalom aka akyerɛ no no kyerɛɛ ɔhene no. Afei, Dawid frɛɛ ne ba a wate ne ho no, ma ɔbaa nʼanim. Absalom bɛduruu ɔhene no anim no, ɔbɔɔ ne mu ase, na Dawid fee nʼano.
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.
