1
Now Jo'ab the son of Zeru'iah perceived that the king's heart went out to Ab'salom.
2
And Jo'ab sent to Teko'a, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her, "Pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments; do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead;
3
and go to the king, and speak thus to him." So Jo'ab put the words in her mouth.
4
When the woman of Teko'a came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, "Help, O king."
5
And the king said to her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.
6
And your handmaid had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field; there was no one to part them, and one struck the other and killed him.