19. And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, there is no turning to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king has spoken; for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words into the mouth of thy bondmaid:
20. in order to turn the appearance of the thing has thy servant Joab done this thing; but my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God to know all that is in the earth.
21. And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: so go, bring back the young man Absalom.
22. And Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself, and blessed the king; and Joab said, To-day thy servant knows that I have found favour in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.
23. And Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
24. And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. And Absalom withdrew to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
25. 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. And when he shaved his head (for it was at every year's end that he shaved it, because it was heavy on him, therefore he shaved it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.
27. And to Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a beautiful countenance.
28. So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and did not see the king's face.
29. Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him; and he sent again the second time, but he would not come.
30. Then he said to his servants, See, Joab's allotment is near mine and he has barley there: go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the allotment on fire.
31. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said to him, Why have thy servants set my allotment on fire?