2 Samuel 14:4–11

⁴So the woman of Tekoa ¹spoke to the king, and she fell on her ²face to the ground and ^aprostrated herself and said, “^bSave, O king.”

⁵And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” And she ¹answered, “Truly I am a widow; my husband has died.

⁶“And your servant-woman had two sons, but the two of them struggled together in the field, and there was no one to deliver between them, so one struck the other and put him to death.

⁷“And behold, ^athe whole family has risen against your servant-woman, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, ^band destroy the heir also.’ Thus they will extinguish my coal which remains, so as to ¹leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”

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

⁹And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “O my lord, the king, ^athe iniquity is on me and my father’s house, but ^bthe king and his throne are guiltless.”

¹⁰So the king said, “Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you anymore.”

¹¹Then she said, “Please let the king remember Yahweh your God, ^aso that the avenger of blood will not continue to bring about ruin, so that they would not destroy my son.” And he said, “^bAs Yahweh lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”