1. Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, understood that the heart of the king had been turned toward Absalom,
2. so he sent to Tekoa, and he brought from there a wise woman. And he said to her: "Feign that you are in mourning, and put on the clothing of one who mourns. And do not anoint yourself with oil, so that you may be like a woman who is still grieving for someone who died some time ago.
3. And you shall enter to the king, and you shall speak words to him in this manner." Then Joab put the words in her mouth.
4. And so, when the woman of Tekoa had entered to the king, she fell before him on the ground, and she reverenced, and she said, "Save me, O king."
5. And the king said to her, "What problem do you have?" And she responded: "Alas, I am a woman who is a widow. For my husband has died.
6. And your handmaid had two sons. And they quarreled against one another in the field. And there was no one there who would be able to stop them. And one struck the other, and killed him.
7. And behold, the whole family, rising up against your handmaid, said: 'Deliver him who struck down his brother, so that we may kill him for the life of his brother, whom he killed, and so that we may do away with the heir.' And they are seeking to extinguish my spark that is left, so that there may not survive a name for my husband, nor a remnant upon the earth."
8. And the king said to the woman, "Go to your own house, and I will make a decree on your behalf."
9. And the woman of Tekoa said to the king: "May the iniquity be upon me, my lord, and upon the house of my father. But may the king and his throne be innocent."
10. And the king said, "Whoever will contradict you, bring him to me, and he will never touch you again."
11. And she said, "Let the king remember the Lord his God, so that close blood relatives may not be multiplied in order to take revenge, and so that they may by no means kill my son." And he said, "As the Lord lives, not one hair from your son shall fall to the ground."