Parallel Bible results for "2 samuel 14"

2 Samuel 14

Third Millennium Bible TMB

1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom.

2 And Joab sent to Tekoa and fetched from 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 who had a long time mourned for the dead;

3 and come to the king and speak in this manner unto him." So Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, "Help, O king!"

5 And the king said unto her, "What aileth thee?" And she answered, "I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.

6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and the two strove together in the field; and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other and slew him.

7 And behold, the whole family has 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 leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the earth."

8 And the king said unto the woman, "Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee."

9 And the woman of Tekoa 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."

10 And the king said, "Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more."

11 Then said she, "I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the avengers 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."

12 Then the woman said, "Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king." And he said, "Say on."

13 And the woman said, "Why then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? For the king doth speak this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilled 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.

15 Now therefore, why I have 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.

16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.'

17 Then thine handmaid said, `The word of my lord the king shall now be comforting; 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.'"

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."

19 And the king said, "Is not the hand of Joab 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 Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid.

20 To bring about this manner of speech hath thy servant Joab 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."

21 And the king said unto Joab, "Behold now, I have done this thing. Go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again."

22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king; and Joab 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."

23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

24 And the king said, "Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face." So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.

25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty; from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

26 And when he cut his hair (for it was at every year's end that he cut it, because the hair was heavy on him; therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king's weight.

27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a woman of a fair countenance.

28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.

29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but he would not come to him; and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

30 Therefore he said unto his servants, "See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire." And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.

31 Then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, "Why have thy servants set my field on fire?"

32 And Absalom answered Joab, "Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, `Come hither, that I may send thee to the king to say, "Why have 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."

33 So Joab came to the king and told him. And when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 Joab, Zeruiah's son, knew the king was still thinking about Absalom.

2 So Joab sent [someone] to Tekoa to get a clever woman from there. He told her, "Please act like a mourner, and dress in mourning clothes. Don't rub olive oil on yourself, but act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time.

3 Go to the king, and tell him this...." Then Joab told her exactly what to say.

4 The woman from Tekoa came to the king and immediately bowed down with her face touching the ground. "Help [me], Your Majesty," she said.

5 The king asked her, "What can I do for you?" She answered, "I'm a widow; my husband is dead.

6 I had two sons who quarreled in the field, and there was no one to separate them. One killed the other.

7 Then the entire family turned against me. They said, 'Give us the man who killed his brother so that we can kill him because he took his brother's life. We're going to destroy the one who [now] would be the heir.' In this way they wish to extinguish the [one] burning coal that is left for me. They will not let my husband's name or descendants remain on the face of the earth."

8 "Go home," the king told the woman. "I will order someone to take care of this matter."

9 The woman from Tekoa said to the king, "Let me be held responsible for the sin, Your Majesty. Let my father's family be held responsible. Your Majesty and your throne are innocent."

10 The king said, "If anyone says anything against you, bring him to me. He'll never harm you again."

11 She said, "Your Majesty, please pray to the LORD your God in order to keep an avenger from doing more harm by destroying my son." "I solemnly swear, as the LORD lives," he said, "not a hair on your son's head will fall to the ground."

12 The woman said, "Please let me say something else to you." "Speak," he said.

13 "Why have you devised something like this against God's people?" she said. "When you say this, you condemn yourself because you haven't brought back the one you banished!

14 We are all going to die; we are all like water that is poured on the ground and can't be gathered up. But doesn't God forgive a person? He never plans to keep a banished person in exile.

15 "I've come to say this to you because the people have frightened me. So I thought, 'I will speak to the king about this. Maybe the king will do something for me, his subject.

16 Maybe the king will listen and rescue me, his subject, from the man who wants to cut off both me and my son from [our] God-given inheritance.'

17 I thought that you would reassure me. You are like God's Messenger, who is able to distinguish right from wrong. May the LORD your God be with you!"

18 The king said to the woman, "Please don't refuse to answer the question I'm going to ask you." The woman responded, "Please speak, Your Majesty."

19 "Did Joab put you up to this?" the king asked. The woman answered, "I solemnly swear on your life, Your Majesty, you are absolutely right. Yes, your servant Joab ordered me [to do this]. He told me to say exactly what I said.

20 Your servant Joab has done this to portray the matter in a different light. You are as wise as God's Messenger, who knows everything on earth."

21 Then the king told Joab, "This is what you'll do. Bring back the young man Absalom."

22 Joab quickly bowed down with his face touching the ground, and he blessed the king. He said, "Today I know that you have been kind to me because you have done what I wanted."

23 So Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

24 But the king said, "Absalom should return to his own house. He will not see me." So Absalom returned to his house and didn't see the king.

25 Now, no one in all Israel was praised for his good looks as much as Absalom was. He had no blemish from head to toe.

26 At the end of every year, he used to cut his hair because it became heavy for him. When he cut the hair on his head and weighed it, it weighed five pounds according to the royal standard.

27 Absalom had three sons and one daughter. His daughter Tamar was a beautiful woman.

28 Absalom stayed in Jerusalem two full years without seeing the king.

29 So Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come. Absalom sent for him a second time, but he still refused to come.

30 So Absalom said to his servants, "Look, Joab's field is next to mine. He has barley in it. Go and set it on fire." So Absalom's servants set it on fire. Joab's servants came to him [in grief] and said, "Absalom's servants have set [your] field on fire."

31 Then Joab immediately went to Absalom at his home. "Why did your servants set my field on fire?" he asked.

32 Absalom answered Joab, "I sent someone to tell you to come here because I wanted to send you to the king to ask him why I had to come from Geshur. It would be better for me if I were still there. Let me see the king now! If I'm guilty of a sin, he should kill me."

33 Joab went to the king and told him this. The king then called for Absalom, who came to the king and bowed down with his face touching the ground. And the king kissed Absalom.