2 Samuel 14–15

¹And Joab son of Zeruial knoweth that the heart of the king is on Absalom, ²and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, ‘Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead, ³and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;’ and Joab putteth the words into her mouth. ⁴And the woman of Tekoah speaketh unto the king, and falleth on her face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and saith, ‘Save, O king.’ ⁵And the king saith to her, ‘What—to thee?’ and she saith, ‘Truly a widow woman am I, and my husband dieth, ⁶and thy maid-servant hath two sons; and they strive both of them in a field, and there is no deliverer between them, and the one smiteth the other, and putteth him to death; ⁷and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left—so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.’ ⁸And the king saith unto the woman, ‘Go to thine house, and I give charge concerning thee.’ ⁹And the woman of Tekoah saith unto the king, ‘On me, my lord, O king, is the iniquity, and on the house of my father; and the king and his throne are innocent.’ ¹⁰And the king saith, ‘He who speaketh aught unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.’ ¹¹And she saith, ‘Let, I pray thee, the king remember by Jehovah thy God, that the redeemer of blood add not to destroy, and they destroy not my son;’ and he saith, ‘Jehovah liveth; if there doth fall of the hair of thy son to the earth.’ ¹²And the woman saith, ‘Let, I pray thee, thy maid-servant speak unto my lord the king a word;’ and he saith, ‘Speak.’ ¹³And the woman saith, ‘And why hast thou thought thus concerning the people of God? yea, the king is speaking this thing as a guilty one, in that the king hath not brought back his outcast; ¹⁴for we do surely die, and are as water which is running down to the earth, which is not gathered, and God doth not accept a person, and hath devised devices in that the outcast is not outcast by Him.

¹⁵‘And now that I have come to speak unto the king my lord this word, it is because the people made me afraid, and thy maid-servant saith, Let me speak, I pray thee, unto the king; it may be the king doth do the word of his handmaid, ¹⁶for the king doth hearken to deliver his handmaid out of the paw of the man seeking to destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God, ¹⁷and thy maid-servant saith, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be for ease; for as a messenger of God so is my lord the king, to understand the good and the evil; and Jehovah thy God is with thee.’ ¹⁸And the king answereth and saith unto the woman, ‘Do not, I pray thee, hide from me the thing that I am asking thee;’ and the woman saith, ‘Let, I pray thee, my lord the king speak.’ ¹⁹And the king saith, ‘Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this?’ And the woman answereth and saith, ‘Thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, none doth turn to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servant Joab he commanded me, and he put in the mouth of thy maid-servant all these words; ²⁰in order to bring round the appearance of the thing hath thy servant Joab done this thing, and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of God, to know all that is in the land.’

²¹And the king saith unto Joab, ‘Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.’ ²²And Joab falleth on his face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and blesseth the king, and Joab saith, ‘To-day hath thy servant known that I have found grace in thine eyes, my lord, O king, in that the king hath done the word of his servant.’ ²³And Joab riseth and goeth to Geshur, and bringeth in Absalom to Jerusalem, ²⁴and the king saith, ‘Let him turn round unto his house, and my face he doth not see.’ And Absalom turneth round unto his house, and the face of the king he hath not seen. ²⁵And like Absalom there was no man so fair in all Israel, to praise greatly; from the sole of his foot even unto his crown there was no blemish in him; ²⁶and in his polling his head—and it hath been at the end of year by year that he polleth it, for it is heavy on him, and he hath polled it—he hath even weighed out the hair of his head—two hundred shekels by the king’s weight. ²⁷And there are born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter, and her name is Tamar; she was a woman of a fair appearance.

²⁸And Absalom dwelleth in Jerusalem two years of days, and the face of the king he hath not seen; ²⁹and Absalom sendeth unto Joab, to send him unto the king, and he hath not been willing to come unto him; and he sendeth again a second time, and he hath not been willing to come. ³⁰And he saith unto his servants, ‘See, the portion of Joab is by the side of mine, and he hath barley there; go, and burn it with fire;’ and the servants of Absalom burn the portion with fire. ³¹And Joab riseth and cometh unto Absalom in the house, and saith unto him, ‘Why have thy servants burned the portion that I have with fire?’ ³²And Absalom saith unto Joab, ‘Lo, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, and I send thee unto the king to say, Why have I come in from Geshur?—good for me while I am there—and now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is in me iniquity then thou hast put me to death.’ ³³And Joab cometh unto the king, and declareth it to him, and he calleth unto Absalom, and he cometh unto the king, and boweth himself to him, on his face, to the earth, before the king, and the king giveth a kiss to Absalom.

Chapter 15

¹And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Absalom prepareth for himself a chariot, and horses, and fifty men are running before him; ²and Absalom hath risen early, and stood by the side of the way of the gate, and it cometh to pass, every man who hath a pleading to come unto the king for judgment, that Absalom calleth unto him, and saith, ‘Of what city art thou?’ and he saith, ‘Of one of the tribes of Israel is thy servant.’ ³And Absalom saith unto him, ‘See, thy matters are good and straightforward—and there is none hearkening to thee from the king.’ ⁴And Absalom saith, ‘Who doth make me a judge in the land, that unto me doth come every man who hath a plea and judgment?—then I have declared him righteous.’ ⁵And it hath come to pass, in the drawing nearing of any one to bow himself to him, that he hath put forth his hand, and laid hold on him, and given a kiss to him; ⁶and Absalom doth according to this thing to all Israel who come in for judgment unto the king, and Absalom stealeth the heart of the men of Israel.

⁷And it cometh to pass, at the end of forty years, that Absalom saith unto the king, ‘Let me go, I pray thee, and I complete my vow, that I vowed to Jehovah in Hebron, ⁸for a vow hath thy servant vowed in my dwelling in Geshur, in Aram, saying, If Jehovah doth certainly bring me back to Jerusalem, then I have served Jehovah.’ ⁹And the king saith to him, ‘Go in peace;’ and he riseth and goeth to Hebron, ¹⁰and Absalom sendeth spies through all the tribes of Israel, saying, ‘At your hearing the voice of the trumpet, then ye have said, Absalom hath reigned in Hebron.’ ¹¹And with Absalom have gone two hundred men, out of Jerusalem, invited ones, and they are going in their simplicity, and have not known anything; ¹²and Absalom sendeth Ahithophel the Gilonite, a counsellor of David, out of his city, out of Gilo, in his sacrificing sacrifices; and the conspiracy is strong, and the people are going and increasing with Absalom.

¹³And he who is declaring tidings cometh in unto David, saying, ‘The heart of the men of Israel hath been after Absalom.’ ¹⁴And David saith to all his servants who are with him in Jerusalem, ‘Rise, and we flee, for we have no escape from the face of Absalom; haste to go, lest he hasten, and have overtaken us, and forced on us evil, and smitten the city by the mouth of the sword.’ ¹⁵And the servants of the king say unto the king, ‘According to all that my lord the king chooseth—lo, thy servants do.’ ¹⁶And the king goeth out, and all his household at his feet, and the king leaveth ten women—concubines—to keep the house. ¹⁷And the king goeth out, and all the people at his feet, and they stand still at the farthest off house. ¹⁸And all his servants are passing on at his side, and all the Cherethite, and all the Pelethite, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came at his feet from Gath, are passing on at the front of the king. ¹⁹And the king saith unto Ittai the Gittite, ‘Why dost thou go—thou also—with us? turn back—and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger, and also an exile thou—to thy place. ²⁰Yesterday is thy coming in, and to-day I move thee to go with us, and I am going on that which I am going!—turn back, and take back thy brethren with thee,—kindness and truth.’ ²¹And Ittai answereth the king and saith, ‘Jehovah liveth, and my lord the king liveth, surely in the place where my lord the king is—if for death, if for life, surely there is thy servant.’ ²²And David saith unto Ittai, ‘Go and pass over;’ and Ittai the Gittite passeth over, and all his men, and all the infants who are with him. ²³And all the land are weeping—a great voice, and all the people are passing over; and the king is passing over through the brook Kidron, and all the people are passing over on the front of the way of the wilderness.

²⁴And lo, also Zadok, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God, and they make the ark of God firm, and Abiathar goeth up, till the completion of all the people to pass over out of the city. ²⁵And the king saith to Zadok, ‘Take back the ark of God to the…