2Sa 14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was
toward Absalom.
2Sa 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:
2Sa 14:3 And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put
the words in her mouth.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 14:8 And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give
charge concerning thee.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 14:10 And the king said, Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me,
and he shall not touch thee any more.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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
thine handmaid:
2Sa 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.
2Sa 14:21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go
therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.
2Sa 14:22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and
thanked the king: and Joab said, Today 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.
2Sa 14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 14:28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's
face.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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?
2Sa 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.
2Sa 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.