2 Samuel 14–15

Chapter 14

The Woman of Tekoa

¹Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that ^athe king’s heart was inclined toward Absalom.

²So Joab sent to ^aTekoa and ¹brought a wise woman from there and said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments now, and do not ^banoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has been mourning for the dead many days;

³then go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” So Joab put ^athe words in her mouth.

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

⁵The king said to her, “What is your trouble?” And she ¹answered, “Truly I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

⁶“Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled together in the field, and there was no ¹one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him.

⁷“Now behold, ^athe whole family has risen against your maidservant, 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 is left, 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 orders concerning you.”

⁹The 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 the Lord your God, ^aso that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And he said, “^bAs the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹²Then the woman said, “Please let your maidservant speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.”

¹³The woman said, “^aWhy then have you planned 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 back ^bhis banished one.

¹⁴“For ^awe will surely die and are ^blike water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but plans ¹ways so that ^cthe banished one will not be cast out from him.

¹⁵“Now ¹the reason I have come to speak this word to my lord the king is that the people have made me afraid; so your maidservant said, ‘Let me now speak to the king, perhaps the king will perform the ²request of his maidservant.

¹⁶‘For the king will hear ¹and deliver his maidservant from the ²hand of the man who would destroy ³both me and my son from ^athe inheritance of God.’

¹⁷“Then your maidservant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king be ¹comforting, for as ^athe angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and evil. And may the Lord your God be with you.’ ”

¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide anything from me that I am about to ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king please speak.”

¹⁹So the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman replied, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. Indeed, it was ^ayour servant Joab who commanded me, and it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant;

²⁰in order to change the appearance of things your servant Joab has done this thing. But my lord is wise, ^alike the wisdom of the angel of God, to know all that is in the earth.”

Absalom Is Recalled

²¹Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, ^aI will surely do this thing; go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom.”

²²Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king; then Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, O my lord, the king, in that the king has performed the ¹request of his servant.”

²³So Joab arose and went to ^aGeshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴However the king said, “Let him turn to ^ahis own house, and let him not see my face.” So Absalom turned to his own house and did not see the king’s face.

²⁵Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; ^afrom the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him.

²⁶When he ^acut the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

^27aTo Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was ^bTamar; she was a woman of beautiful appearance.

²⁸Now Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, ^aand did not see the king’s face.

²⁹Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him. So he sent again a second time, but he would not come.

³⁰Therefore he said to his servants, “See, ^aJoab’s ¹field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

³¹Then Joab arose, came to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my ¹field on fire?”

³²Absalom ¹answered Joab, “Behold, I sent for you, saying, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me still to be there.” ’ Now therefore, let me see the king’s face, ^aand if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death.”

³³So when Joab came to the king and told him, he called for Absalom. Thus he came to the king and prostrated himself on his face to the ground before the king, and ^athe king kissed Absalom.

Chapter 15

Absalom’s Conspiracy

¹Now it came about after this that ^aAbsalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men as runners before him.

²Absalom used to rise early and ^astand beside the way to the gate; and when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

³Then Absalom would say to him, “See, ^ayour ¹claims are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king.”

⁴Moreover, Absalom would say, “^aOh that one would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has any suit or cause could come to me and I would give him justice.”

⁵And when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and ^akiss him.

⁶In this manner Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment; ^aso Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷Now it came about at the end of ¹forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to the Lord, in ^aHebron.

⁸“For your servant ^avowed a vow while I was living at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘^bIf the Lord shall indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’ ”

⁹The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.

¹⁰But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘^aAbsalom is king in Hebron.’ ”

¹¹Then two hundred men went with Absalom from Jerusalem, ^awho were invited and ^bwent ¹innocently, and they did not know anything.

¹²And Absalom sent for ^aAhithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city ^bGiloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, for ^cthe people increased continually with Absalom.

David Flees Jerusalem

¹³Then a messenger came to David, saying, “^aThe hearts of the men of Israel are ¹with Absalom.”

¹⁴David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “^aArise and let us flee, for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵Then the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.”

¹⁶So the king went out and all his household ¹with him. But ^athe king left ten concubines to keep the house.

¹⁷The king went out and all the people ¹with him, and they stopped at the last house.

¹⁸Now all his servants passed on beside him, ^aall the Cherethites, all the Pelethites and all the Gittites, ^bsix hundred men who had come ¹with him from Gath, passed on before the king.

¹⁹Then the king said to ^aIttai the Gittite, “Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place.

²⁰“You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander with us, while ^aI go where I will? Return and take back your brothers; ^bmercy and ¹truth be with you.”

²¹But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely ^awherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.”

²²Therefore David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

²³While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people passed over. The king also passed over ^athe brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward ^bthe way of the wilderness.

²⁴Now behold, ^aZadok also came, and all the Levites with him ^bcarrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and ^cAbiathar came up until all the people had finished passing from the city.

²⁵The king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, then ^aHe will bring me back again and show me both it and ^bHis habitation.

²⁶“But if He should say thus, ‘^aI have no delight in you,’ behold, here I am, ^blet Him do to me as seems good ¹to Him.”

²⁷The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Are you not ^aa seer? Return to the city in peace and your ^btwo sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

²⁸…