| Chapter
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. |
