Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. He sent to Tekoa and fetched a wise woman, instructing her to feign mourning attire and refrain from anointing herself with oil, as if she had long grieved for the dead.

When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and said, "Help me, O king. The king asked her, "What troubles you?" And she replied, "I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead. And your handmaid had two sons who were fighting together in the field, and there was no one to intervene, but one of them struck the other and killed him. The whole family has risen against me, saying, 'Deliver him who struck his brother.'"

The king said to the woman, "Go back to your house, and I will give orders concerning you." The woman of Tekoa said to the king, "My lord, I take responsibility for my actions and those of my family; may your throne remain blameless. The king replied, "Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he will not harm you again.

Then she said, "Remember the Lord your God, that you would not allow those seeking revenge to destroy my son; and he replied, "As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son will fall to the ground. The woman then asked permission to speak further, and the king granted it to her.

The woman said, "Why have you thought of such a thing against God's people? The king is speaking like someone who thinks it's wrong not to bring back those he has banished. We must die, and our lives are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again; God does not show favoritism to anyone, yet he devises ways. 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 your servant said, perhaps the king will grant the request of his servant.

The king will hear to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of God's inheritance. The word of my lord the king shall now be comforting: for just as an angel of God discerns good and bad, so too does my lord the king; therefore the Lord your God will be with you.

The king asked the woman if she was hiding something from him. She replied that her servant Joab had instructed her in these words. To bring about this form of speech, my servant Joab has 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.

The king turned to Joab, saying, "I have done this thing; go and bring back Absalom." Joab fell to the ground on his face, bowed himself, and thanked the king. He arose and went to Geshur, bringing Absalom back to Jerusalem. The king said, "Let him return to his own house and not see my face." So Absalom returned to his own house, but did not go in to the king.

In all Israel there was no one more highly praised than Absalom for his exceptional beauty, with not even the slightest blemish from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. And when he shaved his head annually because it was heavy on him, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king's weight.

Absalom had three sons and one daughter named Tamar, a woman of fair countenance. Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, but did not see the king's face. He sent for Joab to have him go to the king, but he refused to come; and when he sent again the second time, he still would not come.

Absalom then ordered his servants to set Joab's field on fire. Joab arose and came to Absalom at his house, saying to him, "Why have your servants set my field on fire?" Absalom replied that he wanted Joab to go to the king for him, so he could understand why he had left Geshur.

Joab went to the king and told him what had happened. The king summoned Absalom, who came before him with his face to the ground and bowed down in submission. The king then kissed Absalom.