New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Joab realized how much the king longed to see Absalom.

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

2So he sent for a woman from Tekoa who had a reputation for great wisdom. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning; wear mourning clothes and don’t put on lotions. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time.

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

3Then go to the king and tell him the story I am about to tell you.” Then Joab told her what to say.

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

4When the woman from Tekoa approached the king, she bowed with her face to the ground in deep respect and cried out, “O king! Help me!”

4Now when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and prostrated herself and said, "Help, O king."

5“What’s the trouble?” the king asked. “Alas, I am a widow!” she replied. “My husband is dead.

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

6My two sons had a fight out in the field. And since no one was there to stop it, one of them was killed.

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

7Now the rest of the family is demanding, ‘Let us have your son. We will execute him for murdering his brother. He doesn’t deserve to inherit his family’s property.’ They want to extinguish the only coal I have left, and my husband’s name and family will disappear from the face of the earth.”

7"Now behold, the 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, and destroy the heir also.' Thus they will extinguish my coal which is left, so as to leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth."

8“Leave it to me,” the king told her. “Go home, and I’ll see to it that no one touches him.”

8Then the king said to the woman, "Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you."

9“Oh, thank you, my lord the king,” the woman from Tekoa replied. “If you are criticized for helping me, let the blame fall on me and on my father’s house, and let the king and his throne be innocent.”

9The woman of Tekoa said to the king, "O my lord, the king, the iniquity is on me and my father's house, but the king and his throne are guiltless."

10“If anyone objects,” the king said, “bring him to me. I can assure you he will never harm you again!”

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

11Then she said, “Please swear to me by the LORD your God that you won’t let anyone take vengeance against my son. I want no more bloodshed.” “As surely as the LORD lives,” he replied, “not a hair on your son’s head will be disturbed!”

11Then she said, "Please let the king remember the LORD your God, so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son." And he said, "As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground."

12“Please allow me to ask one more thing of my lord the king,” she said. “Go ahead and speak,” he responded.

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

13She replied, “Why don’t you do as much for the people of God as you have promised to do for me? You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son.

13The woman said, "Why 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 his banished one.

14All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.

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

15“I have come to plead with my lord the king because people have threatened me. I said to myself, ‘Perhaps the king will listen to me

15"Now the 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 request of his maidservant.

16and rescue us from those who would cut us off from the inheritance God has given us.

16'For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy both me and my son from the inheritance of God.'

17Yes, my lord the king will give us peace of mind again.’ I know that you are like an angel of God in discerning good from evil. May the LORD your God be with you.”

17"Then your maidservant said, 'Please let the word of my lord the king be comforting, for as the angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and evil. And may the LORD your God be with you.'"

18“I must know one thing,” the king replied, “and tell me the truth.” “Yes, my lord the king,” she responded.

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."

19“Did Joab put you up to this?” And the woman replied, “My lord the king, how can I deny it? Nobody can hide anything from you. Yes, Joab sent me and told me what to say.

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 your servant Joab who commanded me, and it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant;

20He did it to place the matter before you in a different light. But you are as wise as an angel of God, and you understand everything that happens among us!”

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

21So the king sent for Joab and told him, “All right, go and bring back the young man Absalom.”

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

22Joab bowed with his face to the ground in deep respect and said, “At last I know that I have gained your approval, my lord the king, for you have granted me this request!”

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 request of his servant."

23Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

23So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

24But the king gave this order: “Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my presence.” So Absalom did not see the king. Absalom Reconciled to David

24However the king said, "Let him turn to his 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 Absalom was praised as the most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot.

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

26He cut his hair only once a year, and then only because it was so heavy. When he weighed it out, it came to five pounds!

26When he cut 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.

27He had three sons and one daughter. His daughter’s name was Tamar, and she was very beautiful.

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

28Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but he never got to see the king.

28Now Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, and did not see the king's face.

29Then Absalom sent for Joab to ask him to intercede for him, but Joab refused to come. Absalom sent for him a second time, but again Joab refused to come.

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.

30So Absalom said to his servants, “Go and set fire to Joab’s barley field, the field next to mine.” So they set his field on fire, as Absalom had commanded.

30Therefore he said to his servants, "See, Joab's field 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 came to Absalom at his house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

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

32And Absalom replied, “Because I wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me see the king; if he finds me guilty of anything, then let him kill me.”

32Absalom answered 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, and if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death."

33So Joab told the king what Absalom had said. Then at last David summoned Absalom, who came and bowed low before the king, and the king kissed him.

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 the king kissed Absalom.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org