| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Joab realized how much the king longed to see Absalom. | 1Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. |
| 2So he sent for a woman from Tekoa who had a reputation for great wisdom. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning; wear mourning clothes and don’t put on lotions. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. | 2So 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. |
| 3Then go to the king and tell him the story I am about to tell you.” Then Joab told her what to say. | 3Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth. |
| 4When the woman from Tekoa approached the king, she bowed with her face to the ground in deep respect and cried out, “O king! Help me!” | 4When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!” |
| 5“What’s the trouble?” the king asked. “Alas, I am a widow!” she replied. “My husband is dead. | 5“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead. |
| 6My two sons had a fight out in the field. And since no one was there to stop it, one of them was killed. | 6And 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. |
| 7Now the rest of the family is demanding, ‘Let us have your son. We will execute him for murdering his brother. He doesn’t deserve to inherit his family’s property.’ They want to extinguish the only coal I have left, and my husband’s name and family will disappear from the face of the earth.” | 7Now 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.” |
| 8“Leave it to me,” the king told her. “Go home, and I’ll see to it that no one touches him.” | 8“Go home,” the king said to the woman, “and I will give orders on your behalf.” |
| 9“Oh, thank you, my lord the king,” the woman from Tekoa replied. “If you are criticized for helping me, let the blame fall on me and on my father’s house, and let the king and his throne be innocent.” | 9But 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.” |
| 10“If anyone objects,” the king said, “bring him to me. I can assure you he will never harm you again!” | 10“If anyone speaks to you,” said the king, “bring him to me, and he will not trouble you again!” |
| 11Then she said, “Please swear to me by the LORD your God that you won’t let anyone take vengeance against my son. I want no more bloodshed.” “As surely as the LORD lives,” he replied, “not a hair on your son’s head will be disturbed!” | 11“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.” |
| 12“Please allow me to ask one more thing of my lord the king,” she said. “Go ahead and speak,” he responded. | 12Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied. |
| 13She replied, “Why don’t you do as much for the people of God as you have promised to do for me? You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son. | 13The 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? |
| 14All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him. | 14For 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. |
| 15“I have come to plead with my lord the king because people have threatened me. I said to myself, ‘Perhaps the king will listen to me | 15Now 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. |
| 16and rescue us from those who would cut us off from the inheritance God has given us. | 16For 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.’ |
| 17Yes, my lord the king will give us peace of mind again.’ I know that you are like an angel of God in discerning good from evil. May the LORD your God be with you.” | 17And 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.’ ” |
| 18“I must know one thing,” the king replied, “and tell me the truth.” “Yes, my lord the king,” she responded. | 18Then 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. |
| 19“Did Joab put you up to this?” And the woman replied, “My lord the king, how can I deny it? Nobody can hide anything from you. Yes, Joab sent me and told me what to say. | 19So 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. |
| 20He did it to place the matter before you in a different light. But you are as wise as an angel of God, and you understand everything that happens among us!” | 20Joab 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.” |
| 21So the king sent for Joab and told him, “All right, go and bring back the young man Absalom.” | 21Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.” |
| 22Joab bowed with his face to the ground in deep respect and said, “At last I know that I have gained your approval, my lord the king, for you have granted me this request!” | 22Joab 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.” |
| 23Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. | 23So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. |
| 24But the king gave this order: “Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my presence.” So Absalom did not see the king. Absalom Reconciled to David | 24But 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. |
| 25Now Absalom was praised as the most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot. | 25Now 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. |
| 26He cut his hair only once a year, and then only because it was so heavy. When he weighed it out, it came to five pounds! | 26And 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. |
| 27He had three sons and one daughter. His daughter’s name was Tamar, and she was very beautiful. | 27Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman. |
| 28Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but he never got to see the king. | 28Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king. |
| 29Then Absalom sent for Joab to ask him to intercede for him, but Joab refused to come. Absalom sent for him a second time, but again Joab refused to come. | 29Then 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. |
| 30So Absalom said to his servants, “Go and set fire to Joab’s barley field, the field next to mine.” So they set his field on fire, as Absalom had commanded. | 30Then 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. |
| 31Then Joab came to Absalom at his house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?” | 31Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?” |
| 32And Absalom replied, “Because I wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me see the king; if he finds me guilty of anything, then let him kill me.” | 32“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.” |
| 33So Joab told the king what Absalom had said. Then at last David summoned Absalom, who came and bowed low before the king, and the king kissed him. | 33So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom. |
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