2 Samuel 14
A Parable to Bring the Banished Home
← 2 Samuel 13 · 2 Samuel: all chapters · 2 Samuel 15 →
The Wise Woman of Tekoa
14:1Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was on Absalom.
14:2Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He said to her, “Please mourn. Put on mourning clothes and do not anoint yourself with oil. Be like a woman who has mourned someone dead for many days.
14:3Go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” Joab put the words into her mouth.
14:4The woman of Tekoa came in to the king, fell facedown to the ground, bowed down to him, and said, “Help, O king, help!”
14:5The king said to her, “What troubles you?” She said, “Indeed, I am a widow; my husband has died.
14:6Your servant had two sons. Both fought in the field, with no one between them to intervene. One struck his brother and killed him.
14:7Now the whole paternal family has risen against your servant. They say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, and we will put him to death for the life of the brother he killed. We will remove your heir as well.’ They would extinguish my last remaining ember, leaving my husband neither remnant nor name on the face of the earth.”
14:8The king said, “Go to your house in good health, and I will give orders concerning you.”
14:9The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “Let the lawlessness fall on me, my lord the king, and on my father’s house; let the king and his throne be innocent.”
14:10The king said, “Who is speaking to you? Bring him to me, and he will not touch him again.”
14:11She said, “Please let the king remember the Lord his God, for a blood avenger to become great in destruction; and they will certainly not remove my son.” He said, “As the Lord lives, not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.”
14:12The woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.”
14:13The woman said, “Why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? Is this word from the king’s mouth not an offense, since the king does not bring back his own banished one?
14:14We must certainly die and are like water poured onto the ground that will not be gathered again. God will take a life, while planning to banish a banished one from Him.
14:15What I have come to say to my lord the king is this, because the people will see me. Your servant will say, ‘Let someone speak to the king; perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request,
14:16for the king will listen and deliver his servant from the hand of the man seeking to remove me and my son from God’s inheritance.’”
14:17The woman said, “May my lord the king’s word be an offering, for my lord the king is like God’s angel in hearing good and evil. The Lord your God will be with you.”
Is Joab’s Hand with You?
14:18The king answered the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything I ask you.” The woman said, “Please let my lord the king speak.”
14:19The king said, “Is Joab’s hand with you in all this?” The woman said to the king, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, there is no turning right or left from anything my lord the king has said. Your servant Joab commanded me; he put all these words into your servant’s mouth.
14:20Your servant Joab did this to turn the matter around. My lord is wise, with the wisdom of God’s angel, to know everything in the land.”
Absalom Brought Back to Jerusalem
14:21The king said to Joab, “I have now acted for you according to this request of yours. Go and bring back the young man Absalom.”
14:22Joab fell facedown to the ground, bowed down, and blessed the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because my lord the king has granted his servant’s request.”
14:23Joab rose, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
14:24The king said, “Let him turn aside to his own house; he must not see my face.” Absalom turned aside to his own house and did not see the king’s face.
The Beauty and the Hair of Absalom
14:25In all Israel no man was so highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
14:26When he cut the hair of his head—from one period of days to another he cut it because it grew heavy on him—he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the royal shekel.
14:27Three sons and one daughter were born to Absalom. Her name was Tamar, and she was a very beautiful woman. She became the wife of Rehoboam son of Solomon and bore him Abijah.
Absalom Burns Joab’s Field
14:28Absalom lived in Jerusalem two full years without seeing the king’s face.
14:29Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. He sent to him a second time, but Joab refused to appear.
14:30Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s plot in the field is beside mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” Absalom’s servants burned the barley. Joab’s servants came to him with their clothes torn and said, “Absalom’s servants have set the plot on fire.”
14:31Joab rose, came to Absalom at his house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my plot on fire?”
14:32Absalom said to Joab, “I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, and I will send you to the king to say, “Why did I come from Geshur? It would be better for me still to be there.”’ Now look, I have not seen the king’s face. If there is wrongdoing in me, put me to death.”
14:33Joab went in to the king and told him. The king summoned Absalom, who came to the king, bowed down to him, and fell facedown to the ground before him. The king kissed Absalom warmly.
← 2 Samuel 13 · 2 Samuel: all chapters · 2 Samuel 15 →
Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V2 · working draft awaiting specialist review.