2 Samuel 14
Joab's Scheme for
Absalom's Return |
1 |
Now Jo'ab the son of Zeru-i'ah perceived
that the king's heart was toward Ab'salom.
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2 |
And Jo'ab sent to Teko'ah, and fetched
thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself
to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not
thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for
the dead:
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3 |
and come to the king, and speak on this
manner unto him. So Jo'ab put the words in her mouth.
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4 |
And when the woman of Teko'ah spake to
the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and
said, Help, O king.
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5 |
And the king said unto her, What aileth
thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine
husband is dead.
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6 |
And thy handmaid had two sons, and they
two strove together in the field, and there was none to part
them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.
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7 |
And, behold, the whole family is risen
against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his
brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he
slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my
coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.
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8 |
And the king said unto the woman, Go to
thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.
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9 |
And the woman of Teko'ah said unto the
king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my
father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless.
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10 |
And the king said, Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee
any more.
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11 |
Then said she, I pray thee, let the king
remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest
not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they
destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the
earth.
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12 |
Then the woman said, Let thine
handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king.
And he said, Say on.
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13 |
And the woman said, Wherefore then hast
thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king
doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth
not fetch home again his banished.
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14 |
For we must needs die, and are as
water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again;
neither doth God respect any person; yet doth he devise
means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
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15 |
Now therefore that I am come to speak of
this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people
have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto
the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his
handmaid.
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16 |
For the king will hear, to deliver his
handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and
my son together out of the inheritance of God.
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17 |
Then thine handmaid said, The word of my
lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the
LORD thy God will be with thee.
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18 |
Then the king answered and said unto
the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask
thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.
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19 |
And the king said, Is not the hand
of Jo'ab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the
right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king hath
spoken: for thy servant Jo'ab, he bade me, and he put all these
words in the mouth of thine handmaid:
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20 |
to fetch about this form of speech hath
thy servant Jo'ab done this thing: and my lord is wise,
according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
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21 |
And the king said unto Jo'ab, Behold
now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man
Ab'salom again.
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22 |
And Jo'ab fell to the ground on his face,
and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Jo'ab said, Today thy
servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O
king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his
servant.
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23 |
So Jo'ab arose and went to Geshur, and
brought Ab'salom to Jerusalem.
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24 |
And the king said, Let him turn to his
own house, and let him not see my face. So Ab'salom returned to his
own house, and saw not the king's face.
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25 |
But in all Israel there was none to be
so much praised as Ab'salom for his beauty: from the sole of his
foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in
him.
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26 |
And when he polled his head, (for it was
at every year's end that he polled it; because the
hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the
hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's
weight.
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27 |
And unto Ab'salom there were born three
sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman
of a fair countenance.
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28 |
So Ab'salom dwelt two full years in
Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.
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29 |
Therefore Ab'salom sent for Jo'ab, to
have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he
sent again the second time, he would not come.
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30 |
Therefore he said unto his servants, See,
Jo'ab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it
on fire. And Ab'salom's servants set the field on fire.
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31 |
Then Jo'ab arose, and came to Ab'salom
unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy
servants set my field on fire?
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32 |
And Ab'salom answered Jo'ab, Behold, I
sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the
king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me
see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let
him kill me.
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33 |
So Jo'ab came to the king, and told him:
and when he had called for Ab'salom, he came to the king, and bowed
himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king
kissed Ab'salom.
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