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Now Joab
the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's
heart was toward Absalom.
02 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:
03 And come to the king, and speak on this manner
unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.
04 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.
05 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee?
And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and
mine husband is dead.
06 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.
07 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.
08 And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine
house, and I will give charge concerning thee.
09 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.
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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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