¹⁷ He went toward her, and she asked, “Are you Joab?”

“I am,” he answered.

She said, “Listen to what your servant has to say.”

“I’m listening,” he said.

¹² Then the woman said, “Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.”

“Speak,” he replied.

²⁴ She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^(A) and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say.