2 Samuel 14

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Now, Joab son of Zeruiah observed that the king was favourably inclined to Absalom.	1 Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, understood that the heart of the king had been turned toward Absalom,
2 Joab therefore sent to Tekoa for a wise woman. 'Pretend to be in mourning,' he said. 'Dress yourself inmourning, do not perfume yourself; act like a woman who has long been mourning for the dead.	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 say this to him.' And Joab put the words into her mouth which she was 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, fal ing on her face to the ground, prostrated herself.'Help, my lord king!' she said.	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, 'What is the matter?' 'As you see,' she replied, '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 and out in the fields, where there was no one to intervene, they had aquarrel. And one of them struck the other one and kil ed 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 And now the whole clan has risen against your servant. "Give up the man who kil ed his brother," theysay, "so that we can put him to death, to atone for the life of the brother whom he has murdered; and thus weshall destroy the heir as wel ." By this means, they wil extinguish the ember stil left to me, leaving my husbandneither name nor survivor on the face of 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 Then the king said to the woman, 'Go home; I myself shal give orders about your case.'	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 said to the king, 'My lord king! May the guilt be on me and on my family; the kingand his throne are innocent of it.'	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 'Bring me the man who threatened you,' the king replied, 'and he shal never hurt you again.'	10 And the king said, “Whoever will contradict you, bring him to me, and he will never touch you again.”
11 She then said, 'Let the king be pleased to pronounce the name of Yahweh your God, so that theavenger of blood may not do greater harm and destroy my son.' 'As Yahweh lives,' he said, 'not one of yourson's hairs shal fal 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 Then the woman said, 'Permit your servant to say something else to my lord the king.' 'Go on,' hesaid.	12 Then the woman said, “Let your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.”
13 The woman said, 'Why then has the king, who by giving this verdict has condemned himself,conceived the idea, against God's people's interests, of not bringing home the son whom he has banished?	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 are al mortal; we are like water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, nor doesGod raise up a corpse; let the king therefore make plans for his banished son not to remain far away from him inexile.	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 'Now, the reason why I came to speak about this to my lord the king is that I was being intimidated,and your servant thought, "I shal speak to the king; perhaps the king will do what his servant asks.	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 Surely the king wil consent to save his servant from the clutches of the man who is trying to cut bothme and my son off from God's heritage.	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 Let a word from my lord the king, restore the peace!" your servant thought, "for my lord the king islike the Angel of God in understanding good and evil." May Yahweh 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 Replying to the woman, the king said, 'Now do not evade the question which I am going to ask you.'The woman said, 'Let my lord the king ask his question.'	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 'Is not Joab's hand behind you in all this?' the king asked. The woman replied, 'As you live, my lordking, I cannot escape what my lord the king says, either to right or to left. Yes, it was your servant Joab whogave me my orders; he put al these words into your servant's mouth.	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 approach the matter indirectly, but my lord has the wisdom of the Angelof God; he knows everything that happens 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 The king then said to Joab, 'Very wel , the suit is granted. Go and bring the young man Absalomback.'	21 And the king said to Joab: “Behold, your word has succeeded in appeasing me. Therefore, go and call back the boy Absalom.”
22 Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king. 'My lord king,' Joab said,'today your servant knows that he has won your favour, since the king has done what his servant asked.'	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 set off, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.	23 Then Joab rose up, and he went away to Geshur. And he brought Absalom into Jerusalem.
24 The king, however, said, 'Let him retire to his own house; he is not to appear in my presence.' SoAbsalom retired to his own house and was not received by 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 al Israel there was no one more praised for his beauty than Absalom; from the sole of his foot tothe crown of his head, he could not be faulted.	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 cut his hair -- he shaved it once a year because his hair got too heavy -- he would weighthe hair: two hundred shekels, king's weight.	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 To Absalom were born three sons and one daughter called Tamar; she 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 being received by the king.	28 And Absalom remained for two years in Jerusalem, and he did not see the face of the king.
29 Absalom then summoned Joab, intending to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him.He sent for him a second time, but still he would not 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 At this, Absalom said to his retainers, 'Look, Joab's field is next to mine and he has barley in it; goand set it on fire.' Absalom's retainers set fire to the field.	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 Joab then stirred himself, went to Absalom in his house and asked, 'Why have your retainers set myfield 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 replied to Joab, 'Look, I sent word to you: Come here, so that I can send you to the king tosay, "Why come back from Geshur? Better for me to have been there still!" Now I want to be received by theking, and 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 told him this. He then summoned Absalom, who prostrated himself with hisface to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.	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.