2 Samuel 14

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 When Joab, son of Zeruiah, observed how the king felt toward Absalom,	1 Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, understood that the heart of the king had been turned toward Absalom,
2 he sent to Tekoa and brought from there a gifted woman, to whom he said: "Pretend to be in mourning. Put on mourning apparel and do not anoint yourself with oil, that you may appear to be a woman who has been long in mourning for a departed one.	2 so he sent to Tekoa, and he brought from there a wise woman. And he said to her: “Feign that you are in mourning, and put on the clothing of one who mourns. And do not anoint yourself with oil, so that you may be like a woman who is still grieving for someone who died some time ago.
3 Then go to the king and speak to him in this manner." And Joab instructed her what to say.	3 And you shall enter to the king, and you shall speak words to him in this manner.” Then Joab put the words in her mouth.
4 So the woman of Tekoa went to the king and fell prostrate to the ground in homage, saying, "Help, your majesty!"	4 And so, when the woman of Tekoa had entered to the king, she fell before him on the ground, and she reverenced, and she said, “Save me, O king.”
5 The king said to her, "What do you want?" She replied: "Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.	5 And the king said to her, “What problem do you have?” And she responded: “Alas, I am a woman who is a widow. For my husband has died.
6 Your servant had two sons, who quarreled in the field. There being no one to part them, one of them struck his brother and killed him.	6 And your handmaid had two sons. And they quarreled against one another in the field. And there was no one there who would be able to stop them. And one struck the other, and killed him.
7 Then the whole clan confronted your servant and demanded: 'Give up the one who killed his brother. We must put him to death for the life of his brother whom he has slain; we must extinguish the heir also.' Thus they will quench my remaining hope and leave my husband neither name nor posterity upon the earth."	7 And behold, the whole family, rising up against your handmaid, said: ‘Deliver him who struck down his brother, so that we may kill him for the life of his brother, whom he killed, and so that we may do away with the heir.’ And they are seeking to extinguish my spark that is left, so that there may not survive a name for my husband, nor a remnant upon the earth.”
8 The king then said to the woman: "Go home. I will issue a command on your behalf."	8 And the king said to the woman, “Go to your own house, and I will make a decree on your behalf.”
9 The woman of Tekoa answered him, "Let me and my family be to blame, my lord king; you and your throne are innocent."	9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king: “May the iniquity be upon me, my lord, and upon the house of my father. But may the king and his throne be innocent.”
10 Then the king said, "If anyone says a word to you, have him brought to me, and he shall not touch you again."	10 And the king said, “Whoever will contradict you, bring him to me, and he will never touch you again.”
11 But she went on to say, "Please, your majesty, keep in mind the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood may not go too far in destruction and that my son may not be done away with." He replied, "As the LORD lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground."	11 And she said, “Let the king remember the Lord his God, so that close blood relatives may not be multiplied in order to take revenge, and so that they may by no means kill my son.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair from your son shall fall to the ground.”
12 The woman continued, "Please let your servant say still another word to my lord the king." He replied, "Speak."	12 Then the woman said, “Let your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.”
13 So the woman said: "Why, then, do you think of this same kind of thing against the people of God? In pronouncing as he has, the king shows himself guilty, for not bringing back his own banished son.	13 And the woman said: “Why have you thought such a thing against the people of God, and why has the king spoken this word, so that he sins and does not lead back the one whom he rejected?
14 We must indeed die; we are then like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up. Yet, though God does not bring back life, he does take thought how not to banish anyone from him.	14 We are all dying, and we are all like waters that flow into the ground and do not return. God does not will to lose a soul. Instead, he renews his efforts, thinking that what has been rejected might not perish altogether.
15 And now, if I have presumed to speak of this matter to your majesty, it is because the people have given me cause to fear. And so your servant thought: 'Let me speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the petition of his maidservant.	15 Therefore, now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, in the presence of the people. And your handmaid said: I will speak to the king, for perhaps there may be some way for the king to accomplish the word of his handmaid.
16 For the king must surely consent to free his servant from the grasp of one who would seek to destroy me and my son as well from God's inheritance.'"	16 And the king listened, and he freed his handmaid from the hand of all who were willing to take away me and my son together, from the inheritance of God.
17 And the woman concluded: "Let the word of my lord the king provide a resting place; indeed, my lord the king is like an angel of God, evaluating good and bad. The LORD your God be with you."	17 Therefore, let your handmaid speak, so that the word of my lord the king may be like a sacrifice. For even like an Angel of God, so is my lord the king, so that he is moved by neither a blessing, nor a curse. Then too, the Lord your God is with you.”
18 The king answered the woman, "Now do not conceal from me anything I may ask you!" The woman said, "Let my lord the king speak."	18 And in response, the king said to the woman, “You shall not conceal from me a word of what I ask you.” And the woman said to him, “Speak, my lord the king.”
19 So the king asked, "Is Joab involved with you in all this?" And the woman answered: "As you live, my lord the king, it is just as your majesty has said, and not otherwise. It was your servant Joab who instructed me and told your servant all these things she was to say.	19 And the king said, “Is not the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said: “By the welfare of your soul, my lord the king, it is neither to the left, nor to the right, in all these things that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab himself instructed me, and he himself placed all these words in the mouth of your handmaid.
20 Your servant Joab did this to come at the issue in a roundabout way. But my lord is as wise as an angel of God, so that he knows all things on earth."	20 Thus did I turn to this figure of speech, because your servant Joab instructed it. But you, my lord the king, are wise, just as an Angel of God has wisdom, so that you understand all that is upon the earth.”
21 Then the king said to Joab: "I hereby grant this request. Go, therefore, and bring back young Absalom."	21 And the king said to Joab: “Behold, your word has succeeded in appeasing me. Therefore, go and call back the boy Absalom.”
22 Falling prostrate to the ground in homage and blessing the king, Joab said, "This day I know that I am in good favor with you, my lord the king, since the king has granted the request of his servant."	22 And falling to the ground upon his face, Joab reverenced, and he blessed the king. And Joab said: “Today your servant has understood that I have found grace in your sight, my lord the king. For you have accomplished the word of your servant.”
23 Joab then went off to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.	23 Then Joab rose up, and he went away to Geshur. And he brought Absalom into Jerusalem.
24 But the king said, "Let him go to his own house; he shall not appear before me." So Absalom went off to his house and did not appear before the king.	24 But the king said, “Let him return to his own house, but let him not see my face.” And so, Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the face of the king.
25 In all Israel there was not a man who could so be praised for his beauty as Absalom, who was without blemish from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.	25 Now in all of Israel, there was no man so handsome, and so very stately as Absalom. From the sole of the foot to the top of the head, there was no blemish in him.
26 When he shaved his head--which he used to do at the end of every year, because his hair became too heavy for him--the hair weighed two hundred shekels according to the royal standard.	26 And when he shaved off his hair, for he shaved it off once a year, because his long hair was burdensome to him, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, by the public weights.
27 Absalom had three sons born to him, besides a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.	27 Then three sons were born to Absalom, and one daughter, of elegant form, whose name was Tamar.
28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without appearing before the king.	28 And Absalom remained for two years in Jerusalem, and he did not see the face of the king.
29 Then he summoned Joab to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. Although he summoned him a second time, Joab refused to come.	29 And so, he sent to Joab, so that he might send him to the king. But he refused to come to him. And when he had sent a second time, and he had refused to come to him,
30 He therefore instructed his servants: "You see Joab's field that borders mine, on which he has barley. Go, set it on fire." And so Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Joab's farmhands came to him with torn garments and reported to him what had been done.	30 he said to his servants: “You know that the field of Joab, the one that is near my field, has a harvest of barley. Therefore, go and set it on fire.” And so, the servants of Absalom set fire to the grain field. And the servants of Joab, arriving with their garments torn, said, “The servants of Absalom have set fire to part of the field!”
31 At this, Joab went to Absalom in his house and asked him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?"	31 And Joab rose up, and he went to Absalom at his house, and he said, “Why have your servants set fire to my grain field?”
32 Absalom answered Joab: "I was summoning you to come here, that I may send you to the king to say: 'Why did I come back from Geshur? I would be better off if I were still there!' Now, let me appear before the king. If I am guilty, let him put me to death."	32 And Absalom responded to Joab: “I sent to you, begging that you might come to me, and that I might send you to the king, and that you might say to him: ‘Why was I brought from Geshur? It would have been better for me to be there.’ I beg you, therefore, that I may see the face of the king. And if he is mindful of my iniquity, let him put me to death.”
33 Joab went to the king and reported this. The king then called Absalom, who came to him and in homage fell on his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed him.	33 And so, Joab, entering to the king, reported everything to him. And Absalom was summoned. And he entered to the king, and he reverenced on the face of the earth. And the king kissed Absalom.