¹And Joab the son of Zeruiah became aware that the king's heart was against Absalom. ²And Joab sent messengers to Tekoa, and he brought a wise woman from there, and he said to her, “Pretend to mourn, would you, and dress in mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, so that you are like a woman who has been mourning for one deceased for many days now. ³And go to the king and speak to him with these words ...” And Joab put the words in her mouth. ⁴And the Tekoan woman spoke to the king, and she fell face down to the ground, and she prostrated herself, and she said, “O king, help.” ⁵And the king said to her, “What is the matter?” And she said, “I am truly a widow and my husband has died. ⁶And your maidservant had two sons, and the two of them argued in the field, and there was no-one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. ⁷And look what happened: the whole family rose up against your maidservant and said, ‘Give us the one who struck his brother down, so we can put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, and we will also destroy the heir.’ And so they would extinguish the burning coal which remains to me, so not establishing a name or a remnant to my husband on the face of the earth.” ⁸Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will issue commands concerning you.” ⁹Then the Tekoan woman said to the king, “O my lord the king, let the iniquity be on me and my father's house, and let the king and his throne be guiltless.” ¹⁰And the king said, “If anyone speaks to you, then have him brought to me, and he shall no longer unsettle you.” ¹¹And she said, “Do let the king remember the Lord your God by not giving free rein to the avenger of blood to destroy, so that they do not destroy my son.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.” ¹²And the woman said, “Do let your maidservant speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.” ¹³And the woman said, “Now why did you scheme like this against the people of God, and with the king not speaking on this matter he is guilty, in that the king has not brought his banished son back. ¹⁴For we will certainly die, and we are like water being poured onto the ground, which cannot be gathered up, and God is not partial, but he designs ways by which he who is banished is not banished from him. ¹⁵But now that I have come to speak these words to my lord the king – for the people frighten me – your maidservant said to herself, ‘Let me then speak to the king; perhaps the king will act on the case of his maidservant. ¹⁶For the king will hear me, so delivering his maidservant from the hand of the man intent on eliminating me and my son together from an inheritance from God.’ ¹⁷Then your maidservant said, ‘Let the words of my lord the king be settled, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in assessing good and evil.’ And may the Lord your God be with you.” ¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not conceal anything from me which I am asking you about.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” ¹⁹And the king said, “Is Joab's hand with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said, “By your own life, my lord the king, no-one can possibly deviate to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said, for your servant Joab did command me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant. ²⁰Your servant Joab did this thing so as to raise the issue in a roundabout way, and my lord is wise as if with the wisdom of an angel of God in knowing everything on earth.” ²¹Then the king said to Joab, “Here you are, I have settled this matter, so go and bring the lad, Absalom, back.” ²²At this Joab fell face down to the ground and prostrated himself, and he blessed the king, and Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favour in your sight, O my lord the king, in that the king has acted on the concern of his servant.” ²³Then Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴And the king said, “Let him wend his way to his house, but don't let him see my face.” So Absalom wended his way to his house, but he did not see the king's face. ²⁵Now in all Israel there wasn't a man so highly celebrated for his good looks as Absalom – there was no blemish on him from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, ²⁶and when he shaved his head – and it was at the end of each year that he would shave it, for it was heavy on him, so he shaved it – he weighed the hair of his head: two hundred shekels according to the king's weight. ²⁷And three sons were born to Absalom, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of beautiful appearance. ²⁸And Absalom resided in Jerusalem for two full years, and he did not see the king's face. ²⁹And Absalom contacted Joab in order that he might send Joab to the king, but he was not willing to come to him. So he contacted him again – a second time – but he was not willing to come. ³⁰So he said to his servants, “Look, there is an estate of Joab's next to mine, where he has barley. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom's servants set the estate on fire. ³¹At this Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house, and he said to him, “Why have your servants set my estate on fire?” ³²And Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I contacted you and said, ‘Come here and let me send you to the king with the words, «Why have I come from Geshur? It would have been better for me to still be there.» ’ So now, let me see the king's face, and if there is any iniquity in me, let him put me to death.” ³³Then Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king called for Absalom, and he came to the king, and he prostrated himself to him face down to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.