2 Samuel 14:2-20 ▼

2 And Ioab sent to Tekoah, and brought thence a subtile woman, & sayd vnto her, I pray thee, fayne thy selfe to mourne, and nowe put on mourning apparel, & anoynt not thy selfe with oyle: but be as a woman that had now long time mourned for the dead.

3 And come to the King, and speake on this maner vnto him, (for Ioab taught her what she should say).

4 Then the woman of Tekoah spake vnto the king, & fel downe on her face to the ground, and did obeysance, and sayd, Helpe, O King.

5 Then the King sayd vnto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am in deede a widow, and mine husband is dead:

6 And thine handmayd had two sonnes, & they two stroue together in the fielde: (and there was none to part them) so the one smote the other, and slew him.

7 And beholde, the whole familie is risen against thine handmayde, and they sayde, Deliuer him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the soule of his brother whome hee slewe, that we may destroy the heire also: so they shall quenche my sparkle which is left, and shall not leaue to mine husband neither name nor posteritie vpon the earth.

8 And the King said vnto the woman, Go to thine house, and I wil giue a charge for thee.

9 Then the woman of Tekoah said vnto the King, My lord, O King, this trespas be on me, & on my fathers house, and the King and his throne be giltlesse.

10 And the King sayde, Bring him to me that speaketh against thee, and he shall touche thee no more.

11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the King remember the Lorde thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer many reuengers of blood to destroy, lest they slay my sonne; he answered, As the Lord liueth, there shal not one heare of thy sonne fall to the earth.

12 Then the woman said, I pray thee, let thine handmayde speake a worde to my lord the King; he sayd, Say on.

13 Then the woman sayde, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? Or why doeth the King, as one which is faultie, speake this thing, that he will not bring againe his banished?

14 For we must needes dye, and we are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered vp againe: neither doeth God spare any person, yet doeth he appoynt meanes, not to cast out from him, him that is expelled.

15 Nowe therefore that I am come to speake of this thing vnto my lord the King, the cause is that the people haue made me afrayd: therefore thine handmayde sayd, Nowe will I speake vnto the King: it may be that the King will perfourme the request of his handmayde.

16 For the King wil heare, to deliuer his handmayde out of the hande of the man that woulde destroy mee, and also my sonne from the inheritance of God.

17 Therefore thine handmaid sayd, The word of my lord the King shall now be comfortable: for my lorde the King is euen as an Angel of God in hearing of good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God be with thee.

18 Then the King answered, and said vnto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall aske thee; the woman sayde, Let my lord the King now speake.

19 And the King said, Is not the hand of Ioab with thee in all this? Then the woman answered, and sayd, As thy soule liueth, my lord the King, I will not turne to the right hande nor to the left, from ought that my lorde the King hath spoken: for euen thy seruant Ioab bade mee, & he put all these wordes in the mouth of thine handmayde.

20 For to the intent that I should chage the forme of speech, thy seruant Ioab hath done this thing: but my lord is wise according to the wisdome of an Angel of God to vnderstande all things that are in the earth.