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.