2 Samuel 14

¹ Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart longed for Absalom.

² So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought a wise woman from there. He said to her, "Please pretend to be in mourning. Put on mourning clothes and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has been grieving for the dead a long time.

³ Then go to the king and speak these words to him." And Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴ When the woman from Tekoa came to the king, she fell facedown to the ground in homage and said, "Help me, O king!"

⁵ The king said to her, "What is the matter?" She said, "I am a widow, alas; my husband has died.

⁶ Your servant had two sons. The two of them fought out in the field, and there was no one to part them. One struck the other and killed him.

⁷ Now the whole clan has risen against your servant. They say, 'Hand over the one who struck down his brother, so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he killed; we will wipe out the heir as well.' They would snuff out the last ember I have left, leaving my husband neither name nor survivor on the face of the earth.

⁸ The king said to the woman, "Go home, and I will give orders concerning you."

⁹ But the woman from Tekoa said to the king, "My lord the king, let the guilt be on me and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless."

¹⁰ The king said, "If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will never bother you again."

¹¹ She said, "Please let the king call to mind the LORD your God, to keep the avenger of blood from killing again, so that they do not destroy my son." And he said, "As surely as the LORD lives, not one hair of your son will fall to the ground."

¹² Then the woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." "Speak," he said.

¹³ The woman said, "Then why have you planned such a thing against the people of God? In saying this, the king convicts himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son.

¹⁴ We will surely 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 so that a banished person is not kept banished from him.

¹⁵ Now I have come to speak this to my lord the king because the people frightened me. Your servant thought, 'Let me speak to the king; perhaps the king will do what his servant asks.

¹⁶ For the king will listen and rescue his servant from the hand of the man who would cut off both me and my son together from the inheritance God has given.'

¹⁷ And your servant thought, 'May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is like the angel of God in discerning good and evil. May the LORD your God be with you.'"

¹⁸ Then the king answered the woman, "Do not hide from me anything I ask you." "Let my lord the king speak," the woman said.

¹⁹ The king asked, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?" The woman answered, "As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me; he put all these words in the mouth of your servant.

²⁰ Your servant Joab did this to bring about a change in the situation. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, knowing everything that happens in the land."

²¹ The king said to Joab, "Very well, I will do this. Go, bring back the young man Absalom."

²² Joab fell facedown to the ground in homage and blessed the king. Joab said, "Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his servant's request."

²³ So Joab got up and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴ But the king said, "Let him return to his own house; he must not see my face." So Absalom returned to his own house and did not see the king's face.

²⁵ In all Israel there was no man as praised for his good looks as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head there was no flaw in him.

²⁶ Whenever he cut the hair of his head — he used to cut it once a year, because it grew heavy on him — he would weigh the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the royal standard.

²⁷ Three sons were born to Absalom, and one daughter named Tamar. She became a beautiful woman.

²⁸ Absalom lived in Jerusalem two full years without seeing the king's face.

²⁹ Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. He sent a second time, but he still would not come.

³⁰ So Absalom said to his servants, "Look, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire." And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.

³¹ Then Joab got up and came to Absalom at his house and said to him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?"

³² Absalom said to Joab, "Look, I sent for you to say, 'Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to still be there.' Now then, I want to see the king's face, and if there is any guilt in me, let him put me to death."

³³ So Joab went to the king and told him. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed facedown to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.