1Joab, the son of Zeruiah, realized that the king's heart was with Absalom.
2So Joab sent for a wise woman from Tekoa and told her, "Please pretend to be a mourner. Put on clothes for mourning, and don't put any oil on your body. Act like a woman who has been mourning a long time for someone who died."
3Go to the king and speak these words to him." So Joab told her exactly what to say.
4When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, bowing low, and said, "Help me, O King!"
5The king asked her, 'What's wrong?' She replied, 'I am a widow, and my husband is dead.'
6Your servant had two sons. They fought in the field, and since no one was there to separate them, one hit the other and killed him.
7Now the whole family has turned against your servant. They are demanding, 'Hand over the one who killed his brother so we can execute him for taking his brother's life, and destroy the heir too.' They would put out the last bit of my family life and leave my husband without a name or descendants on earth.
8The king told the woman, 'Go home, and I will give an order about you.'
9The woman from Tekoa said to the king, 'My lord, O king, let the blame be on me and my father’s house; may the king and his throne be free of guilt.'
10The king said, 'If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not bother you again.'
11Then she said, 'Please, let the king remember Yahweh your God, so that the one seeking revenge for blood will not cause more destruction, and they won't kill my son.' He replied, 'As surely as Yahweh lives, not a single hair of your son's head will fall to the ground.'
12Then the woman said, 'Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.' He said, 'Speak.'
13The woman said, 'Why then have you planned such a thing against God's people? By saying this, the king is like someone who is guilty, because he isn't bringing his banished son back home.'
14We are all going to die, and we are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. God does not take away life without also finding ways to ensure that those who are banished are not kept completely separated from him.
15Therefore, I have come to speak this word to my lord the king because the people made me afraid. Your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king now; maybe the king will grant his servant's request.'
16For the king will listen and save his servant from the man who wants to destroy me and my son together from God's inheritance.
17Then your servant thought, 'Please let the word of my lord the king bring peace; for my lord the king is like an angel of God, able to tell good from bad. May Yahweh, your God, be with you.'
18Then the king answered the woman, 'Please don't hide anything from me that I ask you.' The woman said, 'Let my lord the king speak now.'
19The king said, 'Is Joab involved with you in all this?' The woman answered, 'As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can deviate in any way from what my lord the king has said, because your servant Joab urged me, and he put all these words into your servant's mouth.'
20Your servant Joab did this to change the appearance of the situation. My lord is wise, with the wisdom of an angel of God, and knows everything that happens on earth.
21The king told Joab, 'Look, I have decided to do this. Go therefore, and bring the young man Absalom back.'
22Joab fell to the ground on his face, showing respect, and blessed the king. Joab said, 'Today your servant knows that I have found favor with you, my lord, the king, because the king has granted his servant's request.'
23So Joab got up and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
24The king said, 'Let him return to his own house, but he must not see my face.' So Absalom returned to his own house and did not see the king's face.
25Absalom was praised above everyone else in all Israel for his good looks. There was nothing wrong with him from head to toe.
26At the end of every year, he would cut his hair because it became heavy. When he cut it, the hair from his head weighed about five pounds, using the official royal weight.
27Absalom had three sons and one daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.
28Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two full years without seeing the king.
29Then Absalom sent for Joab, intending to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come. Absalom sent for him a second time, but Joab still refused.
30So Absalom told his servants, 'Look, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.' So Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
31Then Joab got up, went to Absalom at his house, and asked him, 'Why did your servants set my field on fire?'
32Absalom answered Joab, 'Look, I sent for you, telling you to come here so I could send you to the king with this message: "Why did I come back from Geshur? It would have been better for me to stay there. Now, let me see the king. If I have done anything wrong, he can kill me."'
33So Joab went to the king and told him what Absalom said. The king sent for Absalom, who came and bowed with his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed Absalom.