2 Samuel 14:4–11

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.”