1And Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart was toward Absalom.2And Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman and said to her, "Please mourn and please put on garments of mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil and be like a woman these many days mourning over a dead one."3And you shall go to the king and speak to him according to this word, and Joab put the words in her mouth.4And the woman of Tekoa said to the king and prayed with her nostrils earthward and bowed herself and said, "May the king save!"5And the king said to her, "What is the matter with you?" And she said, "Alas, I am a widow woman, and my husband died."6And your servant had two sons, and the two of them fought in the field. And there was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.7And behold, the whole family has risen up against your handmaid, and they said, "Give us the slayer of his brother, and let him be put to death for his brother's life, whom he killed, and let us destroy also the heir and quench my coal that remains, so as not to set for my husband a name and remnant on the face of the earth."8And the king said to the woman, "Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you."9And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, "The iniquity is upon me, my lord the king, and upon the house of my father, and the king and his throne are clean."10And the king said, "Whoever is speaking to you—bring him to me, and he will not touch you anymore."11And she said, "May the king remember the LORD your God, so as not to multiply the avenger of blood to destroy, and they not destroy my son." And he said, "As the LORD lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the earth."12And the woman said, "Please speak, your maidservant, to my lord the king a word," and he said, "Speak."13And the woman said, "Why have you thought such a thing against the people of God? For in saying this word the king is like one who is guilty, because he does not bring back his banished one."14For we will die as in death, and like the waters the poured-out ones to the ground which are not gathered and not lifted up—God devises thoughts so as not to cast out from him the cast-out one.15And now that I have come to speak to the king my lord this word, because the people fear me, and your handmaid said, "I will speak, please, to the king; perhaps the king will do the word of his Truth."16For the king will hear to save his maidservant from the hand of the man to destroy me and my sons together from the Inheritance of God.17And your female servant said, "Let the word of my lord the king be for rest, please, for as the angel of God, so my lord the king is to hear the good and the evil, and the LORD your God be with you."18The king answered the woman, "Do not hide from me the word I have asked you." And the woman said, "Let my lord the king speak."19And the king said, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?" And the woman answered and said, "As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from all that the word of the LORD the king says, for your servant Joab commanded me, and he put in the mouth of your maidservant all these words."20To change the face of the matter, your servant Joab devised this matter, and my lord is wise like the wisdom of the Angel of God to know all that is in the land.21And the king said to Joab, "Now behold, I have done this word. Go, return the boy Absalom."22And Joab fell on his face to the ground and prostrated himself and blessed the king. And he said, "Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, for the king has done the word of your servant."23Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.24And the king said, "Let him return to his house, but he shall not see my face." And Absalom returned to his house, and he did not see the king's face.25And there was no man as beautiful as Absalom in all Israel to praise very much; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him.26And when he shaved his head—at the end of year to year when he would shave it, because it was heavy on him—and he shaved it and weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the king's weight.27And sons were born to Absalom—three sons and one daughter, and her name was Tamar; she was a woman beautiful in appearance.28And Absalom dwelt in Jerusalem two full years, and he did not see the face of the king.29And Absalom sent to Joab to send him to the king, but he was not willing to come to him. And he sent again a second time, but he was not willing to come.30And he said to his servants, "See the portion of Joab alongside my hand/power, and to him there dung cakes; go and kindle it with fire." And Absalom's servants kindled the portion with fire.31And Joab arose and came to Absalom's house and said to him, "Why has your servant kindled the portion of field which Leah gave to me with fire?"32And Absalom said to Joab: "Look, I sent to you, saying, 'Come here, and I will send you to the king, saying, "Why did I come from Geshur? It was good for me there as long as I was there, and now I will see the face of the king; and if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death."'"33And Joab came to the king and told him, and he called to Absalom. And he came to the king and bowed to him with his nose to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.