Absalom returns to Jerusalem
1Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 2So Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, ‘Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead. 3Then go to the king and speak these words to him.’ And Joab put the words in her mouth.
4When the woman from Tekoa went14:4 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts spoke to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honour, and she said, ‘Help me, Your Majesty!’
5The king asked her, ‘What is troubling you?’
She said, ‘I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no-one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him. 7Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, “Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir as well.” They would put out the only burning coal I have left, leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth.’
8The king said to the woman, ‘Go home, and I will issue an order on your behalf.’
9But the woman from Tekoa said to him, ‘Let my lord the king pardon me and my family, and let the king and his throne be without guilt.’
10The king replied, ‘If anyone says anything to you, bring them to me, and they will not bother you again.’
11She said, ‘Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son shall not be destroyed.’
‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ he said, ‘not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.’
12Then the woman said, ‘Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.’
‘Speak,’ he replied.
13The woman said, ‘Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son? 14Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.
15‘And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, “I will speak to the king; perhaps he will grant his servant’s request. 16Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.”
17‘And now your servant says, “May the word of my lord the king secure my inheritance, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in discerning good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.” ’
18Then the king said to the woman, ‘Don’t keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you.’
‘Let my lord the king speak,’ the woman said.
19The king asked, ‘Isn’t the hand of Joab with you in all this?’
The woman answered, ‘As surely as you live, my lord the king, no-one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant. 20Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom like that of an angel of God – he knows everything that happens in the land.’
21The king said to Joab, ‘Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.’
22Joab fell with his face to the ground to pay him honour, and he blessed the king. Joab said, ‘Today your servant knows that he has found favour in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his servant’s request.’
23Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. 24But the king said, ‘He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.’ So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.
25In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. 26Whenever he cut the hair of his head – he used to cut his hair once a year because it became too heavy for him – he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels14:26 That is, about 2.3 kilograms by the royal standard.
27Three sons and a daughter were born to Absalom. His daughter’s name was Tamar, and she became a beautiful woman.
28Absalom lived for two years in Jerusalem without seeing the king’s face. 29Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So he sent a second time, but he refused to come. 30Then he said to his servants, ‘Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire.’ So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
31Then Joab did go to Absalom’s house, and he said to him, ‘Why have your servants set my field on fire?’
32Absalom said to Joab, ‘Look, I sent word to you and said, “Come here so that I can send you to the king to ask, ‘Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there!’ ” Now then, I want to see the king’s face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death.’
33So Joab went to the king and told him this. Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came in and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. And the king kissed Absalom.
Abisalomu Abwerera ku Yerusalemu
1Yowabu mwana wa Zeruya anadziwa kuti maganizo a mfumu ali pa Abisalomu. 2Kotero Yowabu anatuma munthu wina kupita ku Tekowa ndi kukatengako mkazi wanzeru. Yowabu anati kwa mkaziyo, “Ukhale ngati namfedwa. Uvale zovala zaumasiye ndipo usadzole mafuta ena aliwonse. Ukhale ngati mkazi amene wakhala akulira masiku ambiri. 3Kenaka upite kwa mfumu ndipo ukayankhule mawu awa.” Ndipo Yowabu anamuwuza mawu oti akanene.
4Mkazi wochokera ku Tekowa uja atapita kwa mfumu anadzigwetsa pansi, napereka ulemu kwa mfumu nati, “Thandizeni mfumu!”
5Mfumu inamufunsa kuti, “Kodi chikukusautsa iwe nʼchiyani?”
Iye anayankha kuti, “Ine ndine mkazi wamasiye, mwamuna wanga anamwalira. 6Ine wantchito wanu ndinali ndi ana aamuna awiri. Iwo anayamba kumenyana mʼmunda, ndipo panalibe woti awaleretse. Wina anakantha mnzakeyo mpaka kumupha. 7Tsono banja lonse landiwukira ine, wantchito wanu. Iwo akuti, ‘Utipatse mwana amene anakantha mʼbale wakeyo kuti timuphe chifukwa cha moyo wa mʼbale wake amene anaphedwayo. Ife tidzaphanso mlowamʼmalo.’ Anthuwo adzapha mwana wanga amene wanditsalira, ndipo dzina la mwamuna wanga silidzakumbukika pakuti sipadzakhalanso mwana pa banja lathu.”
8Mfumu inati kwa mkaziyo, “Pitani ku nyumba kwanu ndipo ine ndidzalamula mʼmalo mwanu.”
9Koma mkazi wochokera ku Tekowayo anati kwa mfumu, “Mbuye wanga mfumu, kulakwa kukhale pa ine ndi banja la abambo anga ndipo mfumu ndi mpando wanu waufumu mukhale osalakwa.”
10Mfumu inayankha kuti, “Ngati wina aliyense anene kanthu kwa iwe, umubweretse kwa ine, ndipo sadzakuvutitsanso.”
11Mkaziyo anati, “Mfumu ipemphe kwa Yehova Mulungu wake kuti aletse wobwezera imfa asaphenso wina kuti mwana wanga asawonongedwe.”
Mfumu inati, “Pali Yehova wamoyo ngakhale tsitsi limodzi la pamutu pa mwana wako silidzathotholedwa.”
12Kenaka mkaziyo anati, “Lolani kuti wantchito wanu ayankhule mawu kwa inu mbuye wanga mfumu.”
Iye anayankha kuti, “Yankhula.”
13Mkaziyo anati, “Nʼchiyani tsono chimene mwaganiza kuchitira zimenezi anthu a Mulungu? Pamene mfumu yanena izi, kodi sikudzitsutsa yokha, pakuti mfumu sinayitanitse mwana amene anamupirikitsa? 14Koma poti madzi akatayika sawoleka, ndiye tonsefe tiyenera kufa ndithu. Koma Mulungu safuna kuti moyo wa munthu utayike kotero anakonza njira yakuti wopirikitsidwayo asakhale wotayikiratu.
15“Tsopano ine ndabwera kudzanena izi kwa inu mbuye wanga mfumu chifukwa anthu andichititsa mantha. Mdzakazi wanu anaganiza kuti, ‘Ndikayankhula kwa mfumu, mwina adzachita zimene mdzakazi wake adzamupempha. 16Mwina mfumu idzavomereza kupulumutsa mdzakazi wake mʼdzanja la munthu amene akufuna kupha ine pamodzi ndi mwana wanga kutichotsa pa cholowa chimene Mulungu anatipatsa.’
17“Ndipo tsopano mtumiki wanu akuti, ‘Lolani mawu a mbuye wanga mfumu abweretse mpumulo kwa ine, pakuti mbuye wanga mfumu ali ngati mngelo wa Mulungu pozindikira chabwino ndi choyipa. Yehova Mulungu wanu akhale nanu.’ ”
18Kenaka mfumu inati kwa mkaziyo, “Usandibisire chilichonse pondiyankha chimene ndidzakufunsa.”
Mkaziyo anati, “Mbuye wanga mfumu yankhulani.”
19Mfumu inafunsa kuti, “Kodi zimenezi sukuchita motsogozedwa ndi Yowabu?”
Mkaziyo anayankha kuti, “Pali inu wamoyo, mbuye wanga mfumu, palibe munthu angakhotere kumanja kapena kumanzere pa chilichonse chimene mbuye wanga mfumu mwanena. Inde, ndi mtumiki wanu Yowabu amene wandilangiza ine kuchita zimenezi ndipo ndi amene anandipatsa mawu onsewa woti ine mtumiki wanu ndiyankhule. 20Mtumiki wanu Yowabu anachita zimenezi kuti asinthe mmene zinthu zilili lero. Mbuye wanga muli ndi nzeru ngati za mngelo wa Mulungu. Mumadziwa zonse zimene zikuchitika mʼdziko.”
21Mfumu inati kwa Yowabu, “Chabwino, ine ndichita zimenezi. Pita kamutenge Abisalomuyo.”
22Yowabu anawerama pansi kupereka ulemu kwa mfumu. Yowabuyo anati, “Lero mtumiki wanu wadziwa kuti wapeza chifundo pamaso panu, mbuye wanga mfumu, chifukwa mwavomera pempho lakeli.”
23Choncho Yowabu anapita ku Gesuri ndipo anamubweretsa Abisalomu ku Yerusalemu. 24Koma mfumu inati, “Iye apite ku nyumba yake; asaone nkhope yanga.” Kotero Abisalomu anapita ku nyumba yake ndipo sanakumane ndi mfumu.
25Mʼdziko lonse la Israeli munalibe munthu amene anayamikidwa chifukwa cha maonekedwe ake wokongola ngati Abisalomu. Kuyambira kumutu mpaka ku mapazi ake, analibe chilema. 26Nthawi ina iliyonse akamameta tsitsi lake, ankameta pamene layamba kumulemera. Akatero amaliyeza, ndipo limalemera makilogalamu awiri pa sikelo yaufumu.
27Abisalomu anali ndi ana aamuna atatu ndi wamkazi mmodzi. Mwana wamkazi dzina lake linali Tamara, ndipo anali mkazi wokongola kwambiri.
28Abisalomu anakhala zaka ziwiri mu Yerusalemu osaonekera kwa mfumu. 29Kenaka Abisalomu anatumiza mawu kwa Yowabu, kumutuma kuti apite kwa mfumu, koma Yowabu anakana kubwera. Kotero anatumizanso mawu kachiwiri, koma Yowabu anakananso. 30Tsono Abisalomu anati kwa antchito ake, “Taonani, munda wa Yowabu uli pafupi ndi wanga ndipo muli barele mʼmenemo. Pitani mukawutenthe mundawo.” Ndipo antchito a Abisalomu anawutentha mundawo.
31Ndipo Yowabu anapita ku nyumba ya Abisalomu ndipo anati kwa iye, “Nʼchifukwa chiyani antchito ako atentha munda wanga?”
32Abisalomu anati kwa Yowabu, “Taona, ine ndinatumiza mawu kwa iwe ndipo ndinati, ‘Bwera kuno kuti ndikutume kwa mfumu kukafunsa kuti, ‘Nʼchifukwa chiyani ine ndinabwera kuchokera ku Gesuri? Zikanakhala bwino ndikanakhala komweko!’ Tsono pano ndikufuna kuonana ndi mfumu, ndipo ngati ndili olakwa mfumuyo indiphe.’ ”
33Choncho Yowabu anapita kwa mfumu ndipo anayiwuza zimenezi. Ndipo mfumu inamuyitanitsa Abisalomu, ndipo analowa nawerama kugunditsa nkhope yake pansi pamaso pa mfumu. Tsono mfumu inapsompsona Abisalomu.
