2 Samuel 14

¹And Joab son of Zeruial knoweth that the heart of the king [is] on Absalom,

²and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, 'Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead,

³and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.

⁴And the woman of Tekoah speaketh unto the king, and falleth on her face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and saith, 'Save, O king.'

⁵And the king saith to her, 'What — to thee?' and she saith, 'Truly a widow woman [am] I, and my husband dieth,

⁶and thy maid-servant hath two sons; and they strive both of them in a field, and there is no deliverer between them, and the one smiteth the other, and putteth him to death;

⁷and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left — so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.'

⁸And the king saith unto the woman, 'Go to thine house, and I give charge concerning thee.'

⁹And the woman of Tekoah saith unto the king, 'On me, my lord, O king, [is] the iniquity, and on the house of my father; and the king and his throne [are] innocent.'

¹⁰And the king saith, 'He who speaketh [aught] unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.'