2 Samuel
14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward
Absalom.
14:2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto
her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning
apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a
long time mourned for the dead:
14:3 And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the
words in her mouth.
14:4 And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to
the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.
14:5 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am
indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.
14:6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the
field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and
slew him.
14:7 And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they
said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the
life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and
so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my
husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.
14:8 And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give
charge concerning thee.
14:9 And the woman of Tekoah said unto 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.
14:10 And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and
he shall not touch thee any more.
14:11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that
thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more,
lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall
not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
14:12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word
unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
14:13 And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing
against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one
which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his
banished.
14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which
cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet
doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
14:15 Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the
king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid
said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will
perform the request of his handmaid.
14:16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the
man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of
God.
14:17 Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be
comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern
good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee.
14:18 Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray
thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord
the king now speak.
14:19 And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And
the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none
can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the
king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these
words in the mouth of thine handmaid:
14:20 To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this
thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God,
to know all things that are in the earth.
14:21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go
therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.
14:22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked
the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found
grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the
request of his servant.
14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
14:24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my
face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
14:25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for
his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head
there was no blemish in him.
14:26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he
polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:)
he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's
weight.
14:27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose
name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
14:28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's
face.
14:29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he
would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would
not come.
14:30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and
he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set
the field on fire.
14:31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him,
Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
14:32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come
hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come
from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now
therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in
me, let him kill me.
14:33 So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for
Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the
ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
