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2 Samuel 14:1-20
World English Bible

14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was toward Absalom. 2 Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, “Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead. 3 Go in to the king, and speak like this to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, showed respect, and said, “Help, O king!”

5 The king said to her, “What ails you?”

She answered, “Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead. 6 Your servant had two sons, and they both fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other, and killed him. 7 Behold, the whole family has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also.’ Thus they would quench my coal which is left, and would leave to my husband neither name nor remainder on the surface of the earth.”

8 The king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give a command concerning you.”

9 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, may the iniquity be on me, and on my father’s house; and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”

10 The king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not bother you any more.”

11 Then she said, “Please let the king remember Yahweh your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son.”

He said, “As Yahweh lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the earth.”

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

He said, “Say on.”

13 The woman said, “Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one. 14 For we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can’t be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him. 15 Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid. Your servant said, ‘I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.’ 16 For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. 17 Then your servant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad. May Yahweh, your God, be with you.’”

18 Then the king answered the woman, “Please don’t hide anything from me that I ask you.”

The woman said, “Let my lord the king now speak.”

19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”

The woman answered, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab urged me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20 Your servant Joab has done this thing to change the face of the matter. My lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.”

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2 Samuel 14:1-20
International Standard Version

Joab’s Plan Regarding Absalom

14 Meanwhile, Zeruiah’s son Joab knew that the king’s attention was focused on Absalom,[a] 2 so he[b] sent messengers[c] to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup.[d] Act like a woman who’s been in mourning for the dead for many days. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him like this…” Then Joab told her what to say.

4 When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, “Help, your majesty!”

5 The king asked her, “What’s your problem?”[e]

“I’ve been a widowed woman[f] ever since my husband died,” she answered. 6 “Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. 7 Now please pay attention closely! My[g] whole family is attacking your humble servant! They’re saying, ‘Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we’ll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we’ll kill the heir also!’ They’re going to extinguish the only light[h] left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!”

8 Then the king replied to the woman, “Go home and I’ll issue a special order just for you.”

9 But the woman from Tekoa told the king, “Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors’ household, and not on my king or his throne!”

10 The king replied, “Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won’t be bothering[i] you anymore!”

11 Then she said, “Your majesty, please remember the Lord your God, so that blood avengers don’t do any more damage! Otherwise, they’ll destroy my son!”

So he promised, “As the Lord lives, not even a single hair from your son’s head[j] will fall to the ground!”

12 At this, the woman responded, “Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?”

“Say it…”[k] he replied.

13 “Why, then,” the woman asked, “are you planning to act just like this against God’s people? Based on what your majesty has said, you’re acting like one who is guilty himself, because you’re not bringing back the one whom you’ve banished! 14 After all, even though we all die,[l] and we’re[m] all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn’t take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged.[n]

15 “Now as to why I’ve come to speak with your majesty the king, it’s because the people have made me afraid, so your humble servant told herself,[o] ‘I’ll go speak to the king, so perhaps the king will do what his humble servant has requested. 16 Perhaps the king will listen and deliver his humble servant from the oppression[p] of the man who intends to eliminate both me and my son from what God has apportioned to us!’[q]

17 “So your humble servant is saying, ‘Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the Lord your God remain present with you.’”

18 In reply, the king asked the woman, “Please don’t conceal anything about which I’m going to be asking you now.”

So the woman replied, “Please, your majesty, let the king speak.”

19 Then the king asked, “Is Joab behind all of this with you?”[r]

“As your soul lives, your majesty, the king,” the woman answered, “no one can divert anything left or right from what your majesty the king has spoken! As a matter of fact, it was your servant Joab! He was there, giving me precise orders about everything that your humble servant was to say. Your servant Joab did this, 20 intending to change the outcome of this matter. Nevertheless, your majesty is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to be aware of everything that’s going on throughout the earth.”[s]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 14:1 Lit. king’s heart was toward
  2. 2 Samuel 14:2 Lit. Joab
  3. 2 Samuel 14:2 The Heb. lacks messengers
  4. 2 Samuel 14:2 Lit. using anointing oil
  5. 2 Samuel 14:5 The Heb. lacks problem
  6. 2 Samuel 14:5 I.e. a widow of meager resources, low social status, and limited circumstances, therefore eligible to receive special assistance from Israel’s society.
  7. 2 Samuel 14:7 Lit. The
  8. 2 Samuel 14:7 Lit. the coal that is; i.e. the only remaining heir
  9. 2 Samuel 14:10 Lit. touching
  10. 2 Samuel 14:11 The Heb. lacks head
  11. 2 Samuel 14:12 The Heb. lacks it
  12. 2 Samuel 14:14 Lit. though to death we all die
  13. 2 Samuel 14:14 The Heb. lacks we’re
  14. 2 Samuel 14:14 MT verb for cast away permanently is an intensive form of the verb estranged
  15. 2 Samuel 14:15 The Heb. lacks to herself
  16. 2 Samuel 14:16 Lit. palm
  17. 2 Samuel 14:16 The Heb. lacks to us
  18. 2 Samuel 14:19 Lit. Is the hand of Joab with you in
  19. 2 Samuel 14:20 Or land; or going on in the land
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