1And Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the heart of the king was upon Absalom.
2And Joab sent to Tekoa, and took from there a wise woman (ishah), and said to her, "Mourn, I pray, and put on, I pray, garments of mourning, and do not anoint yourself with oil, and be as a woman (ishah) these many days mourning over a dead one.
3And you shall come to the king, and speak to him according to this word." And Joab put the words in her mouth.
4And the Tekoite woman (ishah) spoke to the king, and fell on her face to the ground, and bowed herself, and said, "Save, O king!"
5And the king said to her, "What is to you?" And she said, "Truly, a widow woman (ishah) am I, and my husband (ish) died.
6And your maidservant had two sons, and the two of them strove together in the field, and there was no deliverer between them, and the one struck the other, and killed him.
7And behold, the whole family has risen against your maidservant, and they said, 'Give over the one who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the soul (nephesh) of his brother whom he killed, and we will destroy also the heir.' And they would quench my coal that is left, so as not to set for my husband (ish) a name and remnant upon the face of the ground (adamah)."
8And the king said to the woman (ishah), "Go to your house, and I will command (tzivvah) concerning you."
9And the Tekoite woman (ishah) said to the king, "Upon me, my lord the king, be the iniquity, and upon the house of my father; and the king and his throne be guiltless."
10And the king said, "Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he will not again touch you anymore."
11And she said, "Let the king remember, I pray, YHWH your God, that the avenger of blood not increase to destroy, lest they destroy my son." And he said, "As YHWH lives (chai), not one of the hairs of your son shall fall to the ground."
12And the woman (ishah) said, "Let your maidservant speak, I pray, to my lord the king a word." And he said, "Speak."
13And the woman (ishah) said, "And why have you devised like this against the people of God? And in speaking this word the king is as one guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.
14For we will surely die, and are as the water spilled to the ground, which cannot be gathered; and God does not take away a soul (nephesh), but devises devices so that the banished one not be banished from him.
15And now that I have come to speak this word to the king my lord, it is because the people made me afraid; and your maidservant said, 'Let me speak, I pray, to the king; perhaps the king will do the word of his maidservant.
16For the king will hear, to deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man (ish) seeking to destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.'
17And your maidservant said, 'Let the word of my lord the king be, I pray, for rest; for as the messenger of God, so is my lord the king, to hear the good and the evil; and YHWH your God be with you.'"
18And the king answered and said to the woman (ishah), "Do not hide, I pray, from me a thing that I ask you." And the woman (ishah) said, "Let my lord the king speak, I pray."
19And the king said, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?" And the woman (ishah) answered and said, "As your soul (nephesh) lives (chai), my lord the king, none can turn to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab, he commanded (tzivvah) me, and he put in the mouth of your maidservant all these words.
20In order to turn around the face of the matter your servant Joab did this thing; and my lord is wise, like the wisdom of the messenger of God, to know all that is in the land."
21And the king said to Joab, "Behold now, I have done this thing; go, bring back the young man Absalom."
22And Joab fell to his face to the ground, and bowed himself, and blessed the king; and Joab said, "Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, in that the king has done the word of his servant."
23And Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
24And the king said, "Let him turn to his own house, and my face he shall not see." And Absalom turned to his own house, and the face of the king he did not see.
25And like Absalom there was no man (ish) so beautiful in all Israel to be praised greatly; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
26And when he shaved his head — and it was at the end of days to days that he would shave, for it was heavy upon him, and he shaved it — he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the king's stone.
27And to Absalom were born three sons and one daughter, and her name was Tamar; she was a woman (ishah) of beautiful appearance.
28And Absalom dwelt in Jerusalem two years of days, and the face of the king he did not see.
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 beside my hand, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire." And the servants of Absalom set the portion on fire.
31And Joab arose and came to Absalom at the house, and said to him, "Why have your servants set my portion on fire?"
32And Absalom said to Joab, "Behold, I sent to you, saying, 'Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, Why have I come from Geshur? It would be good for me to be there still'; and now let me 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 for Absalom, and he came to the king, and bowed himself to him on his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.