2 Samweli 14

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Joab and the woman from Tekoa

¹Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was set on Absalom. ²So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought a wise woman from there. He said to her, “Act as though you are in mourning. Put on mourning clothes and do not anoint yourself with oil. Behave like a woman who has been grieving for the dead a long time. ³Then go to the king and speak to him in this way.” And Joab put the words in her mouth. ⁴When the woman of Tekoa addressed the king, she threw herself face down on the ground and bowed low. “Help me, Your Majesty!” she said.

⁵The king asked her, “What is troubling you?” She answered, “Sadly, I am a widow. My husband is dead. ⁶Your servant had two sons. The two of them got into a fight out in the field, with no one there to pull them apart, and one struck the other and killed him. ⁷Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant. They say, ‘Hand over the man who struck down his brother. We will put him to death to pay for the life of the brother he killed, and so do away with the heir as well.’ So they would put out the one coal I have left, and leave my husband neither name nor survivor on the face of the earth.”

⁸The king said to the woman, “Go home. I will give orders about your case.” ⁹The woman of Tekoa replied, “My lord the king, let the guilt be on me and on my father’s house, and let the king and his throne be free of blame.”

¹⁰The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will never trouble you again.” ¹¹She said, “Please let the king call on the LORD your God, so that the avenger of blood will not add to the destruction, and my son will not be destroyed.” He said, “As surely as the LORD lives, not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.” ¹²Then the woman said, “Please let your servant say one more thing to my lord the king.” “Speak,” he said.

¹³The woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? By speaking as he has, the king convicts himself, since the king has not brought home his own banished son. ¹⁴We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished one not to remain an outcast from him. ¹⁵Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people frightened me. Your servant thought, ‘Let me speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request.’ ¹⁶For the king will listen and rescue his servant from the hand of the one who seeks to destroy both me and my son, cutting us off from the inheritance God has given. ¹⁷Your servant thought, ‘Let what my lord the king says bring me rest, since my lord the king is like an angel of God in telling good from evil.’ May the LORD your God be with you!”

¹⁸Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I am about to ask you.” “Let my lord the king speak,” the woman said. ¹⁹The king asked, “Has Joab had a hand in all this with you?” The woman replied, “My lord the king, as surely as you live, no one can turn aside to the right or the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who gave me orders. He put all these words in your servant’s mouth. ²⁰Your servant Joab did this to change the way things stand. But my lord is as wise as an angel of God, and knows everything that happens in the land.”

Absalom returns to Jerusalem

²¹Then the king said to Joab, “Very well, I will do this. Go and bring back the young man Absalom.” ²²Joab threw himself face down on the ground, bowed low and blessed the king. “Today,” Joab said, “your servant knows that my lord the king looks on me with favor, because the king has granted your servant’s request.” ²³So Joab set out and went to Geshur, and he brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

²⁴But the king said, “He is to go to his own house. He must not come into my presence.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not come into the king’s presence.

²⁵In all Israel there was no man so highly praised for his good looks as Absalom; there was not a flaw in him from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ²⁶Whenever he cut his hair, which he did once a year because it grew heavy on him, he would weigh it, and it came to about 5 pounds by the royal standard. ²⁷Three sons and one daughter were born to Absalom. His daughter’s name was Tamar, and she was a beautiful woman.

Absalom sees the king again

²⁸Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two full years without coming into the king’s presence. ²⁹Absalom then sent for Joab, meaning to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. He sent a second time, but still Joab would not come. ³⁰So he told his servants, “You see Joab’s field beside mine, where he has barley growing. Go and set fire to it.” And Absalom’s servants set fire to the field.

³¹Then Joab went straight to Absalom at his house and said, “Why did your servants set fire to my field?” ³²Absalom answered Joab, “I sent word to you to come here, so that I could send you to the king to ask, ‘Why did I come back from Geshur? I would be better off if I were still there.’ Now let me come into the king’s presence. If I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death.” ³³So Joab went to the king and told him, and the king summoned Absalom. Absalom came to the king and bowed down before him with his face to the ground, and the king kissed Absalom.