1
And Yoav son of Tzeruyah knew that the heart of the king was toward Avshalom.
2
And Yoav sent to Teqoa and took from there a wise ishah, and said to her, “Please make yourself as one mourning, and put on garments of mourning, and do not anoint yourself with oil; but be as an ishah who has mourned many days for the dead.
3
And come to the king and speak to him according to this word.” And Yoav put the words in her mouth.
4
And the ishah of Teqoa spoke to the king, and she fell upon her face to the earth and bowed herself, and said, “Save, O king.”
5
And the king said to her, “What is with you?” And she said, “Truly, I am a widow, and my ish is dead.
6
And your maidservant had two sons, and the two of them fought in the field, and there was no one to separate them. And one struck the other and put him to death.
7
And see, the whole clan has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Give over the one who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the being of his brother whom he killed, and we will destroy the heir also.’ And they would extinguish my coal that remains, leaving to my ish neither Name nor remnant upon the face of the earth.”
8
And the king said to the ishah, “Go to your house, and I will command concerning you.”
9
And the ishah of Teqoa said to the king, “Upon me, my master the king, be the crookedness, and upon the house of my father; and let the king and his Throne be guiltless.”
10
And the king said, “Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you again.”
11
And she said, “Please let the king remember Yahuah your Elohim, that the avenger of blood may not multiply destruction, and that they may not destroy my son.” And he said, “As Yahuah lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the earth.”
12
And the ishah said, “Please let your maidservant speak a word to my master the king.” And he said, “Speak.”
13
And the ishah said, “And why have you devised such a thing against the people of Elohim? For in speaking this word the king is as one guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.
14
For dying, we shall surely die, and we are like waters poured upon the earth, which cannot be gathered again. Yet Elohim does not lift away a being, but He devises plans so that the banished one may not remain banished from Him.
15
And now, that I have come to speak this word to my master the king, it is because the people made me afraid. And your maidservant said, ‘Please let me speak to the king. Perhaps the king will do the word of his maidservant.
16
For the king will listen, to deliver his maidservant from the hand of the ish who would destroy me and my son together from the Inheritance of Elohim.’
17
And your maidservant said, ‘Please let the word of my master the king be for rest. For as a messenger of Elohim, so is my master the king, to discern good and evil. And may Yahuah your Elohim be with you.’”
18
And the king answered and said to the ishah, “Please do not hide from me a thing that I ask you.” And the ishah said, “Please let my master the king speak.”
19
And the king said, “Is the hand of Yoav with you in all this?” And the ishah answered and said, “As your being lives, my master the king, no ish can turn to the right or to the left from anything my master the king has spoken. For your servant Yoav, he commanded me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant.
20
In order to turn the face of the matter, your servant Yoav has done this thing. And my master is wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of Elohim, to know all that is in the earth.”
21
And the king said to Yoav, “See now, I have done this thing. Go, therefore, bring back the young man Avshalom.”
22
And Yoav fell upon his face to the earth and bowed himself and blessed the king. And Yoav said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my master the king, because the king has done the word of his servant.”
23
And Yoav rose and went to Geshur and brought Avshalom to Yerushalayim.
24
And the king said, “Let him turn to his own house, but my face he shall not see.” And Avshalom turned to his own house and did not see the face of the king.
25
And in all Yisra’el there was no ish so greatly praised for beauty as Avshalom. From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head, there was no blemish in him.
26
And when he shaved his head—and it came to pass at the end of days upon days that he shaved it, because the hair was heavy upon him, therefore he shaved it—he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred sheqels by the king’s weight.
27
And to Avshalom were born three sons and one daughter, and her name was Tamar. She was an ishah beautiful in appearance.
28
And Avshalom dwelt two full years in Yerushalayim and did not see the face of the king.
29
And Avshalom sent for Yoav, to send him to the king, but he was not willing to come to him. And he sent again a second time, but he was not willing to come.
30
And he said to his servants, “See, the field of Yoav is beside mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.” And the servants of Avshalom set the field on fire.
31
And Yoav rose and came to Avshalom at the house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”
32
And Avshalom said to Yoav, “See, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, and I will send you to the king, saying: Why did I come from Geshur? It would have been better for me still to be there.’ And now, let me see the face of the king. And if there is crookedness in me, then let him put me to death.”
33
And Yoav came to the king and declared it to him. And he called Avshalom, and he came to the king and bowed himself upon his face to the earth before the king. And the king kissed Avshalom.