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Chapter 14
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1
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Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's
heart was toward Absalom. |
2
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And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman,
and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner,
and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself
with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned
for the dead: |
3
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And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him.
So Joab put the words in her mouth. |
4
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And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell
on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said,
Help, O king. |
5
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And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she
answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is
dead. |
6
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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
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And, behold, the whole family is 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 not leave
to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth. |
8
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And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house,
and I will give charge concerning thee. |
9
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And the woman of Tekoah 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
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And the king said, Whoever saith ought unto thee, bring
him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. |
11
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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
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Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee,
speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say
on. |
13
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And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought
such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth
speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king
doth not fetch home again his banished. |
14
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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
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Now therefore that I am 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. |
16
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For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of
the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together
out of the inheritance of God. |
17
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Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king
shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is
my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the
LORD thy God will be with thee. |
18
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Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide
not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee.
And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. |
19
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And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee
in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul
liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand
or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken:
for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these
words in the mouth of thine handmaid: |
20
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To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab
done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the
wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are
in the earth. |
21
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And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done
this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. |
22
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And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself,
and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant
knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord,
O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of
his servant. |
23
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So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom
to Jerusalem. |
24
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And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and
let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own
house, and saw not the king's face. |
25
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But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised
as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even
to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. |
26
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And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's
end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him,
therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head
at two hundred shekels after the king's weight. |
27
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And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one
daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair
countenance. |
28
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So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw
not the king's face. |
29
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Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to
the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent
again the second time, he would not come. |
30
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Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field
is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on
fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. |
31
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Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house,
and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field
on fire? |
32
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And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee,
saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king,
to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good
for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see
the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let
him kill me. |
33
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So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had
called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself
on his face to the ground before the king: and the king
kissed Absalom. |
