6
And thy handmaid had two sons, and they 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 hath risen against thy 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 will quench my coal which is left, and will not leave to my husband [neither] name nor remainder upon the earth.
8
And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee.
9
And the woman of Tekoah said to 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, Whoever saith [aught] to 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 revengers 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 thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak [one] word to 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 bring home again his banished.
14
For we must needs die, and [are] as water spilt 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 that I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king, [it is] because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak to 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 from the hand of the man [that would] destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.