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So Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from thence, a wise woman, - and said unto her - I pray thee, feign thyself a mourner, and put on, I pray thee, mourning apparel, and do not anoint thyself with oil, but be as a woman that hath, these many days, been mourning for the dead;

And the king said to her - What aileth thee? And she said - Of a truth, a widow woman, am I, for my husband is dead.

Lo! therefore, all the family hath risen up against thy maidservant, and have said: Give up him that hath smitten his brother, that we may put him to death, for the life of his brother, whom he hath slain, that we may destroy, the heir also. So will they quench my ember that is left, and make my husband without name or remainder, on the face of the ground.

And the woman said, Wherefore, then, hast thou devised the like of this, for the people of God; and yet the king, in speaking this word, is verily guilty, unless the king, bring back his fugitive?

For, when we, die, we become as water poured on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, - therefore doth God not take away the life, but deviseth plans so as not to thrust out from him, a fugitive.

For the king can hearken, to rescue his handmaid out of the power of the man who would seek to destroy both me and my son together, out of the inheritance of God.

So thy maidservant said, Pray let the word of my lord the king be comforting, - for, as the messenger of God, so is my lord the king, in hearing the good and the bad, Yahweh thy God, then, be with thee.

Then said the king, Is, the hand of Joab, with thee, in all this? And the woman answered and said - By the life of thy soul, my lord, O king, there is no way to the right or to the left, of anything that my lord the king hath spoken, for, thy servant Joab himself, charged me, and, himself, put, in the mouth of thy maidservant, all these words:

for the purpose of turning round the face of the matter, hath thy servant Joab done this thing, - my lord being wise, as with the wisdom of a messenger of God, in knowing all that is done in the land.

So Joab came unto the king, and told him, and the king called for Absolom, and he came in unto the king, and bowed himself down with his face to the ground, before the king, - and the king kissed Absolom.

And Absolom used to rise up early, and take his stand beside the way of the gate, - and so it was - when any man who had a controversy would come unto the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said: Of what city, art, thou? And he said, Of one of the tribes of Israel, is thy servant. And Absolom said unto him,

And Absolom did, after this manner, to all Israel who came for judgment, unto the king, - so Absolom stole away the heart of the men of Israel.

for thy servant vowed, a vow, while I abode in Geshur in Syria, saying, - If Yahweh, will but bring me back, unto Jerusalem, then will I serve Yahweh,

Then said the king, unto Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore shouldest, thou also, go with us? return and abide with the king, for, a stranger, art thou, moreover also, an exile, art thou from thine own country.

But Ittai answered the king, and said, - By the life of Yahweh, and by the life of my lord the king, surely, in whatsoever place, my lord the king, may be, whether for death or for life, there will, thy servant, be.

but, if, to the city, thou return, then canst thou say unto Absolom - Thy servant, I, O king, will be, as, the servant of thy father, I was formerly, so will I, now, be thy servant: thus shalt thou frustrate for me the counsel of Ahithophel.

Lo! they have there with them, their two sons, Ahimaaz for Zadok, and Jonathan for Abiathar, - so shall ye send, by their hand, unto me, everything which ye shall hear.

And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou, by these? And Ziba said - The asses, are for the king's household, to ride on, and, the bread and the summer fruits, are for the young men to eat, and, the wine, is for drink to such as are faint in the wilderness.

Then said the king, And where is thy lord's son? And Ziba said unto the king - Lo! abiding in Jerusalem, for he said, To-day, will the house of Israel, restore unto me, the kingdom of my father.

Yahweh, hath brought back upon thee, all the shed-blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and Yahweh hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absolom thy son, - and, here thou art, in thy ruin, for that, a man of bloodshed, thou art.