1Forsooth Joab, the son of Zeruiah, understood, that the heart of the king was turned to Absalom;

2and he sent to Tekoah, and took from thence a wise woman, and he said to her, Feign thee to mourn, and be thou clothed with a cloth of dole, and be thou not anointed with oil, that thou be as a woman by mourning now in full much time a dead man.

3And thou shalt enter to the king, and thou shalt speak to him such manner words. And Joab put the words in her mouth.

4Therefore when the woman of Tekoah had entered to the king, she felled before him on the earth, and worshipped, and said, O! king, keep thou me.

5And the king said to her, What hast thou of cause? And she answered, Alas! I am a woman widow, for mine husband is dead;

6and twain [or two] sons were of thine handmaid, which debated against themselves in the field, and none was that might forbid them, and the one smote the tother, and killed him.

7And lo! all the kindred riseth against thine handmaid, and saith, Give thou him to us that killed his brother, that we slay him, for the life of his brother whom he killed, and that we do away the heir; and they seek to quench my spark that is left, that the name dwell not to mine husband, and that remnants be not to him on earth.

8And the king said to the woman, Go into thine house, and I shall command for thee.

9And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord the king, this wicked-ness be on me, and on the house of my father; forsooth the king and his throne be innocent or guiltless.

10And the king said, Bring thou him to me, that against-saith thee, and he shall no more add to, that he touch thee.

11And she said, The king have mind on his Lord God, and the next kins-men of blood to take vengeance be not multiplied, and they shall not slay my son. And the king said, The Lord liveth, for none of the hairs of thy son shall fall upon the earth.

12Therefore the woman said, Thine handmaid speak a word to my lord the king. And the king said, Speak thou.

13And the woman said, Why hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? and the king spake this word, that he do sin, and bring not again his son who is cast out?

14All we die, and as waters that shall not turn again, we slide into the earth; and God will not that a soul perish, but he withdraweth, and thinketh, lest he perish utterly, which is cast away.

15Now therefore come thou, that I speak to my lord the king this word, while the people is present; and thine handmaid said, I shall speak to the king, if in any manner the king do the word of his handmaid.

16And the king heard the words, that he should deliver his handmaid from the hands of all men, that would do away me, and my son together, from the heritage of the Lord.

17Therefore thine handmaid say, that the word of my lord the king be made as sacrifice, that is, that the sentence given of him be pleasant to God, as sacrifice pleaseth God; for as an angel of the Lord, so is my lord the king, that he be not moved by blessing neither by cursing. Wherefore and thy Lord God is with thee.

18And the king answered, and said to the woman, Hide thou not from me the word which I ask thee. And the woman said to him, Speak thou, my lord the king.

19And the king said, Whether the hand of Joab is with thee in all these things? The woman answered, and said, By the health of thy soul, my lord the king, neither to the left side neither to the right side is anything of all these things, which my lord the king hath spoken. For thy servant Joab himself commanded to me, and he putted [or put] all these words into the mouth of thine handmaid,

20that I should turn the figure of this word; for thy servant Joab commanded this thing. Forsooth thou, my lord the king, art wise, as an angel of God that hath wisdom, that thou understand all things on earth.

21And the king said to Joab, Lo! I am pleased, and I have done thy word; therefore go thou, and again-call thou the child Absalom.

22And Joab felled upon his face to the earth, and he worshipped, and blessed the king; and Joab said, Thy servant hath understood today, that I have found grace in thine eyes, my lord king, for thou hast done the word of thy servant.

23Therefore Joab rose up, and went into Geshur, and brought Absalom into Jerusalem.

24And the king said, Turn he again into his house, and see not he my face. Therefore Absalom turned again into his house, and saw not the face of the king.

25Soothly no man in all Israel was so fair as Absalom, and full comely; from the step of the foot unto the top, there was no wem in him;

26and inasmuch as he clipped more his hairs, by so much the more they waxed; but he was clipped once in the year, for his hair grieved him. And when he clipped the hairs, he weighed the hairs of his head by two hundred shekels by common weight.

27And three sons, and a daughter, Tamar by name, of seemly shape, or excellent form, were born to Absalom.

28And Absalom dwelled in Jerusalem two years, and he saw not the face of the king.

29Therefore he sent to Joab, that he should send him to the king; and Joab would not come to him. And when he had sent the second time, and Joab would not come,

30Absalom said to his servants, Ye know the field of Joab beside my field having ripe barley; therefore go ye, and burn ye it [up] with fire. Therefore the servants of Absalom burnt the corn with fire.

31And Joab rose up, and came to Absalom into his house, and said, Why have thy servants burnt [up] my corn with fire?

32And Absalom answered to Joab, I sent to thee, and besought that thou shouldest come to me, and that I should send thee to the king, that thou shouldest say to him, Why came I from Geshur? It was better to me to have been there; therefore I beseech, that I see the face of the king, that if he is mindful of my wickedness, slay he me.

33Joab entered to the king, and told to him. And Absalom was called, and he entered to the king, and he worshipped on the face of [the] earth before him, and the king kissed Absalom.