2 Samuel 14
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Absalom Restored to David
14 Joab son of Zeruiah realised that the king’s mind was on Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa(A) to bring a wise(B) woman from there. He told her, ‘Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil.(C) Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. 3 Go to the king and speak these words to him.’ Then Joab told her exactly what to say.[a]
4 When the woman from Tekoa came[b] to the king, she fell face down to the ground, paid homage,(D) and said, ‘Help me, Your Majesty! ’
5 ‘What’s the matter? ’ the king asked her.
‘Sadly, I am a widow; my husband died,’ she said.(E) 6 ‘Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, “Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will eliminate the heir! ” They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on earth.’(F)
8 The king told the woman, ‘Go home. I will issue a command on your behalf.’
9 Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king, ‘My lord the king, may any blame be on me(G) and my father’s family, and may the king and his throne be innocent.’
10 ‘Whoever speaks to you,’ the king said, ‘bring him to me. He will not trouble you again! ’
11 She replied, ‘Please, may the king invoke the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase the loss, and they will not eliminate my son! ’(H)
‘As the Lord lives,’ he vowed, ‘not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.’(I)
12 Then the woman said, ‘Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king? ’
‘Speak,’ he replied.
13 The woman asked, ‘Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one. 14 We will certainly die(J) and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; he would devise plans so that the one banished from him does not remain banished.
15 ‘Now therefore, I’ve come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request. 16 The king will surely listen in order to keep his servant from the grasp of this man who would eliminate both me and my son from God’s inheritance. 17 Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the angel of God.(K) May the Lord your God be with you.’
18 Then the king answered the woman, ‘I’m going to ask you something; don’t conceal it from me! ’
‘Let my lord the king speak,’ the woman replied.
19 The king asked, ‘Did Joab put you up to[c] all this? ’
The woman answered. ‘As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say.[d] 20 Joab your servant has done this to address the issue indirectly,[e] but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, knowing everything on earth.’
21 Then the king said to Joab, ‘I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.’
22 Joab fell with his face to the ground in homage and blessed the king. ‘Today,’ Joab said, ‘your servant knows I have found favour with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your servant.’
23 So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom(L) to Jerusalem. 24 However, the king added, ‘He may return to his house, but he may not see my face.’ So Absalom returned to his house, but he did not see the king.[f]
25 No man in all Israel was as handsome(M) and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw. 26 When he shaved his head – he shaved it at the end of every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off – he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be 2.5 kilograms[g] according to the royal standard.
27 Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman. 28 Absalom resided in Jerusalem for two years but never saw the king. 29 Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come to him. So he sent again, a second time, but he still would not come. 30 Then Absalom said to his servants, ‘See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it! ’ So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.[h]
31 Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, ‘Why did your servants set my field on fire? ’
32 ‘Look,’ Absalom explained to Joab, ‘I sent for you and said, “Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? I’d be better off if I were still there.” So now, let me see the king. If I am guilty, let him kill me.’
33 Joab went to the king and told him. So David summoned Absalom, who came to the king and paid homage with his face to the ground before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.
Footnotes
- 14:3 Lit Joab put the words into her mouth
- 14:4 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg; other Hb mss read spoke
- 14:19 Lit ‘Is the hand of Joab in
- 14:19 Lit he put all these words into the mouth of your servant
- 14:20 Litto go around the face of the matter
- 14:24 Lit king’s face
- 14:26 Lit 200 shekels
- 14:30 DSS, LXX add So Joab’s servants came to him with their clothes torn and said, ‘Absalom’s servants have set the field on fire! ’
2 Samuel 14
King James Version
14 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.
2 Samuelsboken 14
Swedish New Living Bible (Nya Levande Bibeln)
En kvinna talar för Absaloms sak
14 När general Joab förstod hur mycket kungen längtade efter att få träffa Absalom,
2-3 skickade han efter en kvinna från Tekoa, som hade rykte om sig att vara mycket klok. Han såg till att hon fick träffa kungen och talade om för henne vad han ville att hon skulle framföra.Låtsas att du sörjer, sa han. Sätt på dig sorgkläder och se ut som om du hade sörjt djupt under en längre tid.
4 När kvinnan kom inför kungen, föll hon ner med ansiktet mot golvet och ropade: Ers Majestät, ni måste hjälpa mig!
5-6 Vad kan jag göra för dig? frågade han.Jag är änka, svarade hon. Mina två söner började slåss ute på åkern, och eftersom det inte fanns någon där som kunde skilja dem åt, blev den ene dödad.
7 Nu kräver resten av familjen att jag ska överlämna min andre son till dem, så att de kan ta livet av honom för att han mördade sin bror. Men om jag gör det, har jag ingen son kvar, och min makes namn kommer att utplånas.
8 Låt mig ta hand om detta, svarade kungen. Jag ska se till att ingen rör honom.
9 Tack, Ers Majestät, svarade hon. Jag tar på mig ansvaret, om man kommer att kritisera er för detta.
10 Oroa dig inte över det, svarade kungen. Om någon sätter sig emot det, kan du ta med honom till mig, och jag kan försäkra dig att han aldrig mer ska klaga!
11 Då sa kvinnan: Lova inför Gud att ingen kommer att skada min son! Jag vill inte ha någon mer blodsutgjutelse.Jag lovar inför Gud, svarade han. Inte ett hår på din sons huvud ska krökas!
12 Låt mig då bara få be er om en enda sak till! sa hon.Ja, gärna, sa han. Tala ut!
13 Varför gör ni inte lika mycket för alla bland Guds folk som ni har lovat att göra för mig? frågade hon. Ni har dömt er själv när ni lovat att hjälpa mig, för ni har vägrat att ta hem er egen utstötte son.
14 Vi måste ju alla dö en gång. Våra liv är som vatten som hälls ut på marken - det kan inte samlas upp igen. Gud kommer att välsigna er med ett längre liv, om ni kan fundera ut ett sätt att hämta tillbaka er son från hans landsflykt.
15-16 Men jag har kommit till er för att be er för min son, för jag och min son var hotade till livet, och jag sa för mig själv: 'Kanske kungen kan lyssna till mig och rädda oss undan dem som vill att vår familj ska dö ut.
17 Det är bara kungens ord som kan ge oss frid.' Jag vet att ni är som ett sändebud från Gud och att ni kan skilja mellan gott och ont. Herren ska vara med er!
18 Det är en sak jag vill veta, sa kungen.Vad är det, Ers Majestät? undrade kvinnan.
19 Skickade Joab hit dig? Kvinnan svarade: Hur kan jag neka till det? Ja, Joab skickade hit mig och sa till mig vad jag skulle säga.
20 Han gjorde det för att ni skulle se den här saken på ett nytt sätt. Men ni är lika vis som Guds budbärare och vet allt som händer.
21 Då skickade kungen efter Joab och sa: Jag ska göra som du vill. Gå och hämta tillbaka Absalom.
22 Joab föll ner inför David och välsignade honom och sa: Äntligen vet jag att du tycker om mig, för du har besvarat min bön!
23 Sedan gick Joab till Gesur och hämtade tillbaka Absalom till Jerusalem.
24 Låt honom gå till sin egen bostad, befallde kungen. Han får aldrig komma hit. Jag vill inte se honom i ansiktet.
Absalom ber att få träffa David
25 Nu fanns det ingen i Israel som var så vacker och välväxt som Absalom, och ingen fick så mycket beröm som han.
26 Han klippte sitt hår bara en gång om året när det blivit alltför tungt att gå omkring med. Det vägde då nästan två kilo.
27 Han fick tre söner och en dotter som fick heta Tamar. Hon växte upp till en mycket vacker kvinna.
28 När Absalom hade varit i Jerusalem i två år och ännu inte sett kungen,
29 skickade han bud efter Joab för att be denne tala med kungen, men Joab ville inte komma. Absalom sände då bud efter honom än en gång, men han vägrade på nytt.
30 Då sa Absalom till sina tjänare: Joabs kornåker ligger bredvid min. Gå och sätt eld på den! Då gjorde tjänarna som Absalom hade sagt,
31 och snart kom Joab till Absalom och frågade: Varför har du förstört min åker?
32 Absalom svarade: Därför att jag ville be dig fråga kungen varför han förde mig tillbaka från Gesur, när han ändå inte tänker träffa mig. Jag kunde ju lika gärna ha bott kvar där. Nu vill jag träffa kungen, och om han anser mig skyldig till något, så får han väl avrätta mig.
33 Joab berättade då för kungen vad Absalom hade sagt. Slutligen kallade David på Absalom. När han kom bugade han sig djupt inför kungen, och David kysste honom.
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