10
And the king said: If any one shall say ought against thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
11
And she said: Let the king remember the Lord his God, that the next of kin be not multiplied to take revenge, and that they may not kill my son. And he said: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
12
The woman said: Let thy hand maid speak one word to my lord the king. And he said: Speak.
13
And the woman said: Why hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God, and why hath the king spoken this word, to sin, and not bring home again his own exile?
14
We all die, and like waters that return no more, we fall down into the earth: neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalleth, meaning that he that is cast off should not altogether perish.
15
Now therefore I am come, to speak this word to my lord the king before the people. And thy handmaid said: I will speak to the king, it maybe the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
16
And the king hath hearkened to me to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of all that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.
17
Then let thy handmaid say, that the word of the Lord the king be made as a sacrifice. For even as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, that he is neither moved with blessing nor cursing: wherefore the Lord thy God is also with thee.
18
And the king answering, said to the woman: Hide not from me the thing that I ask thee. And the woman said to him: Speak, my lord the king.
19
And the king said: Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? The woman answered, and said: By the health of thy soul, my lord, O king, it is neither on the left hand, nor on the right, in all these things which my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he commanded me, and he put all these words into the mouth of thy handmaid.
20
That I should come about with this form of speech, thy servant Joab commanded this: but thou, my lord, O king, art wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to understand all things upon earth.