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2 Samuel 14:1-33 — Absalom's Return to Jerusalem

2Sam.14.1-33

¹Now Joab son of Zeruiah realized that the king's heart was toward Absalom . ²So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He said to her, "Please pretend to be in mourning. Put on mourning clothes, do not anoint yourself with oil, and be like a woman who has been mourning for the dead many days. ³Then go to the king and speak to him in this way." And Joab put the words in her mouth. ⁴When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell with her face to the ground and bowed down and said, “Help, O king!” ⁵The king said to her, “What troubles you?” She said, "Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead. ⁶Your maidservant had two sons, and the two of them fought in the field, and there was no one to separate them. One struck the other and killed him. ⁷And now the whole clan has risen up against your maidservant and said, 'Hand over the one who struck his brother, so that we may put him to death for the life of the brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.' So they would put out the ember I have left, leaving my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth." ⁸The king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” ⁹The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, let the guilt be on me and on my father's house, but the king and his throne are innocent.” ¹⁰The king said, “If anyone speaks against you, bring him to me, and he will never trouble you again.” ¹¹Then she said, “Please let the king remember the LORD your God, so that the avenger of blood may not continue to destroy, and they may not destroy my son.” He said, “As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son's head shall fall to the ground.” ¹²Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.” ¹³The woman said, "Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? In speaking this word, the king convicts himself, because the king has not brought back his banished one. ¹⁴For we must surely die and are like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but he devises means so that the banished one may not remain driven away from him . ¹⁵And now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king because the people made me afraid. So your maidservant said, 'Let me speak to the king; perhaps the king will carry out the request of his maidservant.' ¹⁶For the king will listen, to deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy both me and my son together from the inheritance of God. ¹⁷And your maidservant said, 'Please let the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in hearing good and evil. And may the LORD your God be with you.'" ¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything that I ask you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” ¹⁹The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered, "As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab commanded me, and he put all these words into the mouth of your maidservant. ²⁰Your servant Joab has done this in order to change the course of this matter. But my lord is wise, with the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that is in the land." ²¹Then the king said to Joab, “See now, I have done this. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.” ²²Joab fell with his face to the ground and bowed down and blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of his servant.” ²³So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴But the king said, “Let him turn aside to his own house, and let him not see my face.” So Absalom turned aside to his own house and did not see the king's face. ²⁵Now in all Israel there was no man so handsome as Absalom, so highly praised. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. ²⁶And when he cut the hair of his head—at the end of every year he would cut it, because it was heavy on him, so he cut it—he would weigh the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the king's weight. ²⁷Three sons were born to Absalom, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of beautiful appearance. ²⁸And Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two full years without seeing the king's face. ²⁹Then Absalom sent to Joab to send him to the king, but Joab was not willing to come to him. So he sent again a second time, but he was still not willing to come. ³⁰Then he said to his servants, “Look, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom's servants set the field on fire. ³¹Then Joab arose and came to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” ³²Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent to you, saying, 'Come here, and let me send you to the king to say: Why have I come 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 guilt in me, let him put me to death.” ³³So Joab came to the king and reported it to him. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came to the king and bowed himself with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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