1 ¶ Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s mind was on Absalom.

2 So Joab sent to Tekoah, and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, Pretend to be a mourner, put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time:

3 And go to the king, and say this to him. Then Joab told her what to say.

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

5 And the king said to her, What troubles you? And she replied, I am a widow, and my husband is dead.

6 And your handmaid had two sons, and they quarreled with each other in the field, and there was no one to separate them, but the one struck the other, and killed him.

7 And now our whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they say, Hand over the man who struck down his brother, so that we may execute him, for taking the life of his brother whom he killed; and so they would destroy the heir also: and thus put out my one remaining ember, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the earth.

8 Then the king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give orders on your behalf.

9 But the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord, O king, may any blame be on me, and on my father’s house: and may the king and his throne be guiltless.

10 And the king said, If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not give you any more trouble.

11 Then she said, I pray you, let the king invoke the LORD your God, so that the avenger of blood will not carry out any more killing, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son will fall to the ground.

12 Then the woman said, Let your handmaid, I beg you, say one more thing to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

13 And the woman said, Why then have you devised something similar against God’s people? for in giving this decision the king convicts himself, in that he does not bring home his banished son.

14 For we must certainly die, and be like water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; nor does God show preference for any person: yet he has devised a way, so that his banished one does not remain an outcast.

15 Now therefore I have come to say this to my lord the king, because the people made me afraid: and I thought, I will speak to the king; perhaps the king will carry out his servant’s request.

16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid from the hand of the man who would cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.

17 Then your handmaid said, The word of my lord the king will now give me peace: for my lord the king is like an angel of God, to discern good and evil: therefore the LORD your God will be with you.

18 Then the king answered and said to the woman, Please do not conceal from me anything that I shall ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

19 And the king said, Is the hand of Joab behind you in all this? And the woman replied, As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said: for your servant Joab directed me, and he put all these words in my mouth:

20 Your servant Joab has done this to put the matter in a different light: and my lord is wise, like the wisdom of an angel of God, knowing everything on earth.

21 ¶ Then the king said to Joab, Look now, I have granted this request: therefore, go and bring back the young man Absalom.

22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.

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

24 And the king said, Let him go to his own house, and do not let him come into my presence. So Absalom returned to his own house, and did not come into the king’s presence.

25 But in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his beauty as Absalom: from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

26 And when he cut off his hair, (which he did at the end of every year: because it was heavy:) he weighed the hair from his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight.

27 Now three sons were born to Absalom, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a beautiful woman.

28 ¶ So Absalom remained in Jerusalem for two full years, without seeing the king’s face.

29 Finally Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent for him again the second time, he would not come.

30 Therefore Absalom said to his servants, Look, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

31 Then Joab got up, and went to Absalom to his house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?

32 And Absalom answered Joab, Look, I sent for you, saying, Come here, so that I may send you to the king, to ask, Why have I come from Geshur? it would have been better for me to have remained there: now let me see the king’s face; and if I am guilty, let him kill me.

33 So Joab went to the king, and told him: and when David called for Absalom, he went to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.