New Living Translation

King James Bible

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

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

2And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

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

3And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. 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!”

4And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

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

5And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine 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.

6And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew 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.”

7And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.

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

8And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.

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.”

9And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless.

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

10And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.

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 said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.

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, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

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.

13And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

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.

14For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled 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

15Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

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

16For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of 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.”

17Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee.

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 unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now 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.

19And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid:

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!”

20To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

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

21And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.

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!”

22And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled 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

24And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.

25Now Absalom was praised as the most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot.

25But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish 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!

26And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.

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

27And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.

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

28So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not 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.

29Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, 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 unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And 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, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy 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.”

32And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

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 Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed 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.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.