II Samuel 14 · שמואל ב

Now Yo᾽av the son of Żeruya perceived that the king’s heart was towards Avshalom.

And Yo᾽av sent to Teqo῾a, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and do not anoint thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

and come to the king, and speak in this manner to him. So Yo᾽av put the words in her mouth.

And when the woman of Teqo῾a spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and bowed herself, and said, Help, O king.

And the king said to her, What ails thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, for my husband is dead.

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.

And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they have 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 a name or a remainder upon the earth.

And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee.

And the woman of Teqo῾a said to 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.

And the king said, Whoever says anything to thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.

Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the Lord thy God, that the revenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.

Then the woman said, Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

And the woman said, Why then hast thou continued such a thing against the people of God? the king speaks this thing as one that is guilty, in that the king does not fetch home again his banished one:

for we shall surely die, and shall be as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that none of us be banished.

Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

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.

Then thy handmaid said, Let the word of my lord the king 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.

Then the king answered and said to 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.

And the king said, Is the hand of Yo᾽av with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken: for thy servant Yo᾽av, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thy handmaid:

to turn this matter the other way, has thy servant Yo᾽av done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are on the earth.

And the king said to Yo᾽av, Behold now, thou hast done this thing: go therefore, bring back the young man Avshalom.

And Yo᾽av fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Yo᾽av said, To day thy servant knows that I have found favour in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.

So Yo᾽av arose and went to Geshur, and brought Avshalom to Yerushalayim.

And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Avshalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face.

But in all Yisra᾽el there was none so much praised as Avshalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

And when he shaved his head, (for it was at every year’s end that he cut it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he cut it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.

And to Avshalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of fair appearance.

So Avshalom dwelt two years in Yerushalayim, and did not see the king’s face.

Therefore Avshalom sent for Yo᾽av, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

Therefore he said to his servants, See, Yo᾽av’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. And Avshalom’s servants set the field on fire.

Then Yo᾽av arose, and came to Avshalom to his house, and said to him, Why have thy servants set my field on fire?

And Avshalom answered Yo᾽av, Behold, I sent to thee, saying, Come here, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Why am I come from Geshur? it would be better for me to be there still: now therefore let me see the king’s face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

So Yo᾽av came to the king, and told him: and he called for Avshalom, and he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Av-shalom.