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The
Woman of Tekoa |
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| 2 Samuel 14:1 |
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Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the
king's heart was inclined toward Absalom. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:2 |
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So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought a wise woman
from there and said to her, "Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning
garments now, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has
been mourning for the dead many days; |
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| 2 Samuel 14:3 |
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then go to the king and speak to him in this
manner." So Joab put the words in her mouth. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:4 |
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Now when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king,
she fell on her face to the ground and prostrated herself and said, "Help, O king." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:5 |
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The king said to her, "What is your trouble?"
And she answered, "Truly I am a widow, for my husband is dead. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:6 |
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Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of
them struggled together in the field, and there was no one to separate them, so
one struck the other and killed him. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:7 |
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Now behold, the whole family has risen against
your maidservant, and they say, 'Hand over the one who struck his brother, that
we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, and destroy
the heir also.' Thus they will extinguish my coal which is left, so as to leave
my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:8 |
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Then the king said to the woman, "Go to your
house, and I will give orders concerning you." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:9 |
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The woman of Tekoa said to the king, "O my lord,
the king, the iniquity is on me and my father's house, but the king and his throne
are guiltless." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:10 |
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So the king said, "Whoever speaks to you, bring
him to me, and he will not touch you anymore." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:11 |
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Then she said, "Please let the king remember
the LORD your God, so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy,
otherwise they will destroy my son." And he said, "As the LORD lives, not one
hair of your son shall fall to the ground." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:12 |
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Then the woman said, "Please let your maidservant
speak a word to my lord the king." And he said, "Speak." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:13 |
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The woman said, "Why then have you planned such
a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one
who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:14 |
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For we will surely die and are like water spilled
on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life,
but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:15 |
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Now the reason I have come to speak this word
to my lord the king is that the people have made me afraid; so your maidservant
said, 'Let me now speak to the king, perhaps the king will perform the request
of his maidservant. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:16 |
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For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant
from the hand of the man who would destroy both me and my son from the inheritance
of God.' |
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| 2 Samuel 14:17 |
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Then your maidservant said, 'Please let the
word of my lord the king be comforting, for as the angel of God, so is my lord
the king to discern good and evil. And may the LORD your God be with you.'" |
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| 2 Samuel 14:18 |
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Then the king answered and said to the woman,
"Please do not hide anything from me that I am about to ask you." And the woman
said, "Let my lord the king please speak." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:19 |
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So the king said, "Is the hand of Joab with
you in all this?" And the woman replied, "As your soul lives, my lord the king,
no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king
has spoken. Indeed, it was your servant Joab who commanded me, and it was he who
put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant; |
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| 2 Samuel 14:20 |
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in order to change the appearance of things
your servant Joab has done this thing. But my lord is wise, like the wisdom of
the angel of God, to know all that is in the earth." |
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Absalom
Is Recalled |
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| 2 Samuel 14:21 |
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Then the king said to Joab, "Behold now, I will
surely do this thing; go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:22 |
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Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrated
himself and blessed the king; then Joab said, "Today your servant knows that I
have found favor in your sight, O my lord, the king, in that the king has performed
the request of his servant." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:23 |
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So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought
Absalom to Jerusalem. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:24 |
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However the king said, "Let him turn to his
own house, and let him not see my face." So Absalom turned to his own house and
did not see the king's face. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:25 |
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Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as
Absalom, so highly praised; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head
there was no defect in him. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:26 |
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When he cut the hair of his head (and it was
at the end of every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it),
he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king's weight. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:27 |
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To Absalom there were born three sons, and one
daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a woman of beautiful appearance. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:28 |
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Now Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem,
and did not see the king's face. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:29 |
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Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to
the king, but he would not come to him. So he sent again a second time, but he
would not come. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:30 |
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Therefore he said to his servants, "See, Joab's
field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire." So Absalom's
servants set the field on fire. |
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| 2 Samuel 14:31 |
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Then Joab arose, came to Absalom at his house
and said to him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?" |
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| 2 Samuel 14:32 |
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Absalom answered Joab, "Behold, I sent for you,
saying, 'Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, "Why have I come
from Geshur? It would be better for me still to be there."' Now therefore, let
me see the king's face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death." |
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| 2 Samuel 14:33 |
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So when Joab came to the king and told him,
he called for Absalom. Thus he came to the king and prostrated himself on his
face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom. |
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