UST 2 SAM Chapter 14

◄ 2 SAM 14 ► ║ ═ ©

14 But Joab recognized that the king was still angry with Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to the city of Tekoa to bring to him a woman who was very clever. When she arrived, Joab said to her, “I want you to look very sad, as if you are grieving because someone you love has died. Put on the clothes that people wear who are mourning. Do not put any olive oil on your hair or skin. Act as if you are a woman who has been mourning for a long time for someone who has died. 3 Then go to King David and tell him what I tell you to say.” Then Joab told her what to say.

4 So the woman who was from Tekoa went to the king. She got down and lay flat out in front of him to honor him, and then she cried out, “Your Majesty, please help me!”

5 The king replied, “What is your problem?” She replied, “Sadly I am a widow. My husband died some time ago. 6 I had two sons. But one day they quarreled with each other while they were working out in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one of them hit the other one so hard that he killed him. 7 Now, all of my extended family has come to me and insisted that I surrender to them my son who is still alive. They want to kill him to punish him for killing his brother. But if they do that, I will not have any son to inherit my late husband’s land and the family will take it. My son is the only relative I have left. If they kill him, my husband will have no living descendants to preserve our family’s name.”

8 Then the king said to the woman, “I will forbid anyone to punish your surviving son by killing him. So you may go back home without appealing any further.”

9 The woman from Tekoa replied to the king, “Your Majesty, let me reassure you that if my son actually is guilty of murder and deserves to die, then I will accept the blame and expect Yahweh to punish me and my family. May Yahweh not punish you or the kingdom of Israel because you have said that no one should kill my surviving son.”

10 The king said to her, “If anyone continues to demand that you surrender your surviving son for execution, bring that person to me. I will make sure that he never causes you trouble again.”

11 Then the woman said, “Your Majesty, please swear by Yahweh your God that you will do this. That way the relative who would be responsible to kill my son if he had actually murdered his brother will not kill him and cause someone further to die in my family.” David replied, “I swear by Yahweh that I will not allow anyone to hurt your son at all.”

12 Then the woman said, “Your Majesty, please allow me to say one more thing to you.” He replied, “Speak!”

13 The woman said, “You have been acting badly toward God’s people. Based on the judgment you have just given, you have been doing the wrong thing. Since you take circumstances into account when judging cases of manslaughter, you should allow your son Absalom, our crown prince, to return home. 14 Consider that all of us are going to die. Like water that no one can pick up from the ground once someone has spilled it, death is permanent so you should reconcile with Absalom while you are both still alive. And it is not God who makes people die even to punish them when they have done wrong things. Instead, God forgives people who have sinned against him so that they can once more be in a good relationship with him.

15 I came to appeal to you, Your Majesty, because I was very afraid that the members of my extended family would kill my son. I said to myself, ‘I will go and talk to the king, and maybe he will do what I ask him to do. 16 Perhaps he will listen to me and save my son from the man who is trying to kill him. If that man kills my son, I might die too without his support. Then we would both no longer be a part of the Israelite community.’

17 And I decided, ‘What the king says will comfort me, because he is like an angel of God. He knows how to determine what is right and what is wrong.’ I pray that Yahweh your God will help you.”

18 In response King David told the woman, “I am going to ask you about something, and I want you to tell me the whole truth about it.” The woman replied, “Go ahead and ask, Your Majesty, and I will answer truthfully.”

19 The king said, “Did Joab arrange for you to do all this?” She replied, “I swear by your life, Your Majesty, that it is not possible to say otherwise than you have said! Yes, it was in fact Joab who told me to come here, and he was the one who told me what to say. 20 Joab did that to try to get you to feel differently about this matter. But Your Majesty, you seem to be as wise as one of God’s angels. You know what is happening throughout your kingdom, and that is how you knew that Joab sent me here.”

21 Then King David had his servants bring Joab to him. David told Joab, “Listen! I have decided to do what you want. So you may go and get that young man Absalom and bring him back here to Jerusalem.”

22 Joab got down and lay flat out in front of David to honor him. Then he asked God to do good things for him. Then Joab said, “Your Majesty, now I know that you are pleased with me, since you have agreed to do what I asked.”

23 Then Joab did what David had said he could do. He went to Geshur and got Absalom and brought him back to Jerusalem. 24 But King David had said that while Absalom could live in his own house again, he could not come and speak with him. So Absalom lived in his own house, but he did not go and speak with the king.

25 Now people throughout Israel praised Absalom for being a very handsome man. He did not seem to have any flaws in any part of his body. 26 Absalom wore his hair long and only cut it once a year when it became too heavy on his head. When he cut his hair, he would weigh it, and because it was so thick it always weighed nearly a kilogram. 27 Absalom had three sons. He also had a daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very beautiful woman.

28 Even though Absalom had lived in Jerusalem for two entire years, David had still not allowed him to come and speak with him. 29 So Absalom sent a messenger to ask Joab to come and speak with him. Absalom wanted to ask Joab to help him receive permission to speak with King David. But Joab refused to come and speak with Absalom. So Absalom sent another messenger to ask Joab to come and speak with him. But Joab still would not come.

30 Then Absalom told his servants, “Here is what I want you to do. Joab owns a piece of land next to my land, and he has barley growing there. Go over and start a fire there to burn up the barley.” So Absalom’s servants went over and started a fire, and it burned up all the barley.

31 Joab realized who must have started the fire, so he went to Absalom’s house and demanded to know, “Why did your servants burn up the barley that was growing on my piece of land?” 32 Absalom replied, “I had them do that because when I sent messengers to ask you to come and speak with me, you refused. I wanted you to go to the king and tell him on my behalf that it seemed useless for me to have come here from Geshur and that I thought it would have been better for me to stay there. Now please get the king to allow me to come and speak with him. Tell him that if he is keeping me away to punish me for doing something wrong, he can go ahead and execute me!” 33 So Joab went to the king and told him what Absalom had said. Then the king sent messengers to bring Absalom to the royal court. Absalom came to the king and, to honor him, he knelt down in front of him with his face touching the ground. Then the king indicated that Absalom could get up, and he kissed Absalom on the cheek to show that he was no longer hostile to him.

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UST 2 SAM Chapter 14

UST 2 SAM Chapter 14