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2 Samuel 14
- 1
- Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's
heart was toward Absalom.
- 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:
- 3
- And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him.
So Joab put the words in her mouth.
- 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.
- 5
- And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she
answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.
- 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.
- 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.
- 8
- And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and
I will give charge concerning thee.
- 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.
- 10
- And the king said, Whoever saith ought unto thee, bring
him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
- 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.
- 12
- Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee,
speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 ought 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:
- 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.
- 21
- And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done
this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.
- 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.
- 23
- So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to
Jerusalem.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 27
- And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one
daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
- 28
- So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw
not the king's face.
- 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.
- 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.
- 31
- Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and
said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
- 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.
- 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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