Verse
ASV
American Standard Version
BSB
Berean Standard Bible
Now Joab the
son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's
heart was
toward
Absalom.
Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s
heart longed
for
Absalom.
And
Joab sent to Tekoa ,
and
fetched
thence
a wise woman ,
and
said
unto
her, I
pray
thee,
feign
thyself
to be a mourner ,
and
put on mourning apparel,
I
pray
thee,
and anoint
not thyself
with oil ,
but
be
as
a woman that
hath
a
long
time
mourned for the dead :
So
Joab sent to Tekoa to
bring
a wise woman from
there.
He
told
her, “Please
pretend
to be a mourner ;
put on clothes
for
mourning and do
not anoint
yourself
with oil .
Act
like
a woman who
has
mourned for the dead a
long
time.
and
go in
to the king ,
and speak on
this
manner
unto
him. So
Joab put the words in her mouth.
Then
go to the king and speak these
words
to
him. ”
And
Joab put the words in her mouth.
And
when the woman of
Tekoa spake
to the king, she fell on
her
face
to
the
ground,
and
did
obeisance,
and said, Help, O king .
When the woman from
Tekoa went
to the king, she fell facedown
in
homage
and said, “
Help me
, O king !”
And
the king said
unto
her, What
aileth
thee?
And
she answered
, Of
a
truth
I am a widow, and
my husband is dead.
“What
troubles
you?”
the king asked
her .
“Indeed
, ”
she said
, “
I am a widow, for
my husband is dead.
And 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 killed him.
And your
maidservant
had two sons who
were
fighting
in the field with
no
one
to separate
them, and
one struck
the other and killed him.
And,
behold,
the whole family
is
risen against thy
handmaid,
and they
say
, Deliver
him
that
smote
his brother, that we may kill
him for the life of his
brother whom he slew,
and
so
destroy
the
heir
also
. Thus
will they quench
my coal
which
is
left,
and
will
leave
to
my husband
neither
name nor
remainder
upon
the
face
of
the earth.
Now
the whole clan
has
risen up
against your
maidservant
and said
, ‘Hand
over
the
one
who
struck
down
his brother, that we may put
him to
death
for the life of the
brother whom he killed
. Then
we
will cut
off
the
heir
as
well!’
So
they would
extinguish
my one
remaining
ember
by
not
preserving
my husband’s
name or
posterity
on
the earth. ”
And
the king said unto
the woman, Go
to
thy
house,
and I will give charge
concerning
thee
.
“Go
home,”
the king said to
the woman, “
and I will give orders
on
your
behalf
. ”
And
the woman of Tekoa 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.
But
the woman of Tekoa said to
the king, “
My lord the
king, may
any
blame
be on me and on my father’s
house ,
and may
the king and his throne be guiltless. ”
And
the king said
, Whosoever
saith
aught
unto
thee,
bring him to me, and he shall
not touch
thee
any
more.
“If
anyone
speaks
to
you,”
said
the king, “
bring him to me, and he will
not trouble
you
again!”
Then
said
she
, I
pray
thee
, let
the king remember
Jehovah
thy
God ,
that
the avenger of blood destroy
not
any
more
, lest
they
destroy
my son .
And
he
said,
As Jehovah
liveth
, there
shall
not one
hair of thy
son
fall to the earth
.
“Please
, ”
she
replied
, “may
the king invoke
the
LORD
your
God to
prevent
the avenger of blood from
increasing
the
devastation
, so
that
my son may
not
be
destroyed!”
“
As surely
as
the
LORD
lives
, ”
he
vowed,
“
not a
hair of your
son’s
head
will
fall to the ground
. ”
Then the woman said, Let
thy
handmaid,
I
pray
thee
, speak a word unto
my lord the king .
And
he
said
, Say
on
.
Then the woman said, “Please
, may
your
servant
speak a word to
my lord the king ?”
“Speak
, ”
he
replied
.
And
the woman said
, Wherefore
then
hast
thou
devised such
a thing against the people of God? for
in
speaking
this
word
the king is
as
one
that
is
guilty
, in
that
the
king
doth
not fetch
home
again
his banished one.
The woman asked
, “Why
have
you
devised a thing like
this
against the people of God? When
the king says
this
, does
he
not convict
himself,
since
he
has
not
brought
back
his own
banished son?
For we must
needs
die ,
and are
as
water split
on the ground, which cannot be gathered
up
again;
neither
doth
God take away life ,
but deviseth
means,
that
he that is
banished be
not an
outcast
from him.
For surely
we will
die and be
like
water poured
out
on the ground, which cannot be recovered.
Yet
God does
not
take away a
life ;
but He devises
ways
that the
banished one
may
not be
cast
out
from Him.
Now therefore seeing
that
I am
come to speak
this word
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 servant
.
Now therefore ,
I have
come to present
this matter
to
my lord the king because the people have made me afraid .
Your
servant
thought
, ‘
I will speak to
the king .
Perhaps
he
will grant
the request of his maidservant
.
For the king will hear ,
to
deliver his servant
out
of
the hand of the man that
would destroy
me and my son together
out
of
the
inheritance of
God
.
For the king will hear and
deliver his maidservant
from
the hand of the man who
would cut
off
both
me and my son from
God’s
inheritance. ’
Then
thy
handmaid
said,
Let,
I
pray
thee
, the word of my lord the king be
comfortable;
for
as
an
angel
of
God
, so
is
my lord the king to discern good and bad:
and
Jehovah
thy
God be with thee
.
And
now
your
servant
says
, ‘May
the word of my lord the king bring
me
rest
, for
my lord the king is
able
to discern good and evil,
just
like
the
angel
of
God .
May
the
LORD
your
God
be with you
. ’”
Then the king answered
and
said unto
the woman, Hide
not from me ,
I
pray
thee,
aught
that
I
shall
ask
thee.
And
the
woman
said,
Let my lord the king now
speak.
Then the king said to
the woman, “I
am
going
to
ask
you
something;
do
not conceal
it
from me !”
“
Let my lord the king speak ,”
she
replied
.
And
the king said
, Is 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 aught
that my lord the king hath
spoken;
for
thy
servant Joab ,
he
bade
me,
and
he
put
all
these
words
in
the mouth
of
thy
handmaid
;
So
the king asked
, “
Is the hand of Joab behind
all this? ”
The woman answered, “
As surely
as
you
live
, my lord the king, no
one
can turn to the right or to the left from anything
that my lord the king says.
Yes,
your
servant Joab is
the one
who
gave
me
orders
; he
told
your
maidservant
exactly
what
to
say.
to
change
the
face
of
the
matter
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
.
Joab your
servant
has
done this to
bring
about
this
change
of
affairs,
but
my lord has
wisdom
like
the wisdom of the
angel of God, to know everything
that happens
in the land
. ”
And
the king said unto
Joab, Behold
now,
I have
done
this thing:
go therefore
, bring the young man Absalom back
.
Then
the king said to
Joab, “
I hereby
grant
this request.
Go, bring back
the young man Absalom. ”
And
Joab fell to
the
ground
on
his
face,
and
did
obeisance,
and blessed the king :
and
Joab
said, To-day
thy
servant knoweth
that I
have
found favor in
thy
sight
, my lord ,
O
king, in
that
the king hath
performed
the
request
of
his servant
.
Joab fell facedown
in
homage
and blessed the king .
“Today,”
said Joab
, “your
servant knows
that he
has
found favor with
you
, my lord the
king, because
the king has
granted
his request
. ”
So Joab arose
and
went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
So Joab got
up,
went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
And
the king said
, Let
him
turn
to his own
house, but let
him
not see my face. So Absalom turned
to his own house, and
saw
not the king's
face
.
But
the king added
, “He
may
return
to his house, but he
must
not see my face. ”
So Absalom returned
to his own house, but
he
did
not see
the king
.
Now 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
.
Now there
was
not
a
man
in all Israel as
handsome
and
highly
praised as Absalom .
From the sole of his foot to the top
of his head ,
he
did
not
have
a
single
flaw
.
And when he cut the hair of his head (now
it
was
at
every
year's
end
that
he cut
it ;
because it
was
heavy on
him,
therefore
he cut
it );
he
weighed
the
hair
of
his
head
at
two hundred shekels, after
the king's
weight
.
And when he cut the hair of his head —
he shaved
it every
year
because his
hair
got
so
heavy —
he would
weigh
it out
to
be
two hundred shekels, according
to
the royal
standard
.
And
unto
Absalom
there
were
born
three sons, and one
daughter ,
whose
name
was
Tamar :
she
was a woman of
a
fair
countenance
.
Three sons were
born
to
Absalom
, and a
daughter named
Tamar ,
who
was a beautiful
woman.
And
Absalom dwelt
two
full
years
in Jerusalem ;
and
he
saw
not
the king's
face.
Now
Absalom lived
in Jerusalem two
years
without
seeing
the face of
the
king
.
Then Absalom
sent for Joab ,
to send him to the king ;
but he
would
not
come to him :
and
he
sent again
a second time, but he
would not come.
Then he
sent for Joab to send him to the king ,
but Joab
refused
to
come to him .
So
Absalom
sent a second time, but Joab
still
would not come.
Therefore
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.
Then
Absalom
said to
his servants, “Look
, Joab’s
field is next
to
mine, and he has
barley there .
Go and set it on fire !”
And Absalom’s
servants set the field on fire.
Then Joab arose,
and
came to Absalom
unto
his
house ,
and said
unto
him
, Wherefore
have
thy
servants set my field on fire?
Then Joab came to Absalom’s
house and demanded
, “Why
did
your
servants set my field on fire? ”
And
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 were
better for me to
be
there
still. Now therefore
let me see the king's
face ;
and if there be
iniquity in me, let him kill me.
“Look
, ”
said
Absalom
, “
I sent for
you
and
said
, ‘
Come here.
I want
to
send you
to the king to ask:
Why
have
I come back
from Geshur? It would
be
better for me if
I
were
still there
. ’
So
now ,
let me see the king’s
face ,
and if there is
iniquity in me, let him kill me. ”
So 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.
So Joab went
and
told
the king, and David
summoned
Absalom, who
came to him
and bowed facedown
before him.
Then
the king kissed Absalom.
Scripture text: American Standard Version and Berean Standard Bible. Public domain.; Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC..