14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart
[was] towards Absalom.
14:2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and brought thence a wise woman,
and said to 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 in this manner to him. So
Joab put the words in her mouth.
14:4 And when the woman of Tekoah spoke 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 to her, What aileth thee? And she
answered, I [am] indeed a widow woman, and my 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 hath risen against thy
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 will quench my
coal which is left, and will not leave to my husband [neither]
name nor remainder upon the earth.
14:8 And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will
give charge concerning thee.
14:9 And the woman of Tekoah 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.
14:10 And the king said, Whoever saith [aught] to 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 thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak
[one] word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
14:13 And the woman said, Why then hast thou thought such a
thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this
thing as one who is faulty, in that the king doth not bring
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 have come to speak of this thing to
my lord the king, [it is] because the people have made me
afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak to 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 from the
hand of the man [that would] destroy me and my son together out
of the inheritance of God.
14:17 Then thy handmaid said, The word of my lord the king, will
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 to 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 aught that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy
servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the
mouth of thy handmaid:
14:20 To bring 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] on the
earth.
14:21 And the king said to 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 to 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, that he might send 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 to 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, to [his] house, and
said to him, Why have thy servants set my field on fire?
14:32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to thee, saying,
Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Why am I
come from Geshur? it [had been] good for me [had I been] there
still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there
is [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.
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