2 Samuel 14

¹And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, perceived that the heart of the king was toward Absalom.

²And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman, and said to her, 'Please mourn and put on garments of mourning, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has been many days mourning for the dead.'

³And you shall come to the king and speak to him according to this word. And Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴And the woman of Tekoa came to the king and fell upon her face to the ground and bowed down, and said, 'Save me, O king!'

⁵And the king said to her: What is the matter with you? And she said: Truly, I am a widowed woman, and my husband has died.

⁶Your maidservant had two sons, and they fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to separate them, and the one struck the other and killed him.

⁷And behold, the whole clan has risen against your maidservant, and they said, 'Hand over the one who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, and we will destroy the heir also'; and so they would quench my remaining ember, leaving my husband no name or remnant upon the face of the earth.

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

⁹And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, 'Upon me, my lord the king, be the iniquity, and upon my father's house; but let the king and his throne be innocent.'

¹⁰And the king said: Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.

¹¹And she said, 'Let the king remember the LORD your God, so that the avenger of blood destroys no more, and my son may not be destroyed.' And he said, 'As the LORD lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground.'

¹²Then the woman said, 'Please let your maidservant speak a word to my lord the king.' And he said, 'Speak.'

¹³And the woman said, 'Why then have you devised this against the people of God? By speaking this word, the king is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.'

¹⁴For we must surely die, and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up; and God does not take away life, but devises plans so that the banished one need not be banished from him.

¹⁵Now, as for why I have come to speak to the king, my lord, this matter, it is because the people have made me afraid, and your maidservant said, 'Let me now speak to the king; perhaps the king will do the request of his maidservant.'

¹⁶For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.

¹⁷And your maidservant said: May the word of my lord the king now be for rest, for like the angel of God, so is my lord the king, to discern the good and the evil; and may the Lord your God be with you.

¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, 'Please do not hide from me the thing that I am asking you.' And the woman said, 'Please, let my lord the king speak.'

¹⁹And the king said, 'Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?' And the woman answered and said, 'As your soul lives, my lord the king, there is no turning to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken; for it was your servant Joab who commanded me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant.'

²⁰In order to change the face of the matter, your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know all that is on the earth.

²¹And the king said to Joab, 'Behold, I have done this thing; go now, bring back the young man Absalom.'

²²And Joab fell on his face to the ground and bowed down and blessed the king. And Joab said, 'Today your servant knows that I have found favor in the eyes of my lord the king, in that the king has done the word of your servant.'

²³And Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴And the king said, 'Let him go around to his own house, and let him not see my face.' So Absalom went to his own house, and he did not see the face of the king.

²⁵And there was no man as beautiful as Absalom in all Israel — greatly praised; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

²⁶And when he shaved his head -- at the end of every year he would shave it, for it grew heavy on him -- he would weigh the hair of his head: two hundred shekels by the king's weight.

²⁷And to Absalom there were born three sons and one daughter; her name was Tamar, and she was a woman beautiful in appearance.

²⁸And Absalom lived in Jerusalem two full years, and he did not see the face of the king.

²⁹And Absalom sent to Joab to send him to the king, but he was not willing to come to him. And he sent again a second time, but he was not willing to come.

³⁰And he said to his servants, 'See, Joab's field is beside mine, and he has barley there; go and set it ablaze with fire.' And the servants of Absalom set the field ablaze with fire.

³¹Then Joab arose and came to Absalom's house and said to him, 'Why have your servants set my field on fire?'

³²And Absalom said to 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 let me see the face of the king; and if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death.'

³³So Joab came to the king and told him, and he called for Absalom. And Absalom came to the king and bowed himself to the ground on his face before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.