rsv 2Samuel:14:2-20 SEEK
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And Jo '
ab sent to Teko '
a ,
and fetched from there a wise woman ,
and said to her , "
Pretend to be a mourner ,
and put on mourning garments ;
do not anoint yourself with oil ,
but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead ;
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and go to the king ,
and speak thus to him ."
So Jo '
ab put the words in her mouth .
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When the woman of Teko '
a came to the king ,
she fell on her face to the ground ,
and did obeisance ,
and said , "
Help ,
O king ."
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And the king said to her , "
What is your trouble ?"
She answered , "
Alas ,
I am a widow ;
my husband is dead .
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And your handmaid had two sons ,
and they quarreled with one another in the field ;
there was no one to part them ,
and one struck the other and killed him .
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And now the whole family has risen against your handmaid ,
and they say , `
Give up the man who struck his brother ,
that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew ';
and so they would destroy the heir also .
Thus they would quench my coal which is left ,
and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the face of the earth ."
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Then the king said to the woman , "
Go to your house ,
and I will give orders concerning you ."
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And the woman of Teko '
a said to the king , "
On me be the guilt ,
my lord the king ,
and on my father '
s house ;
let the king and his throne be guiltless ."
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The king said , "
If any one says anything to you ,
bring him to me ,
and he shall never touch you again ."
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Then she said , "
Pray let the king invoke the LORD your God ,
that the avenger of blood slay no more ,
and my son be not destroyed ."
He said , "
As the LORD lives ,
not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground ."
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Then the woman said , "
Pray let your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king ."
He said , "
Speak ."
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And the woman said , "
Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God ?
For in giving this decision the king convicts himself ,
inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again .
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We must all die ,
we are like water spilt on the ground ,
which cannot be gathered up again ;
but God will not take away the life of him who devises means not to keep his banished one an outcast .
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Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid ;
and your handmaid thought , `
I will speak to the king ;
it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant .
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For the king will hear ,
and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the heritage of God .'
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And your handmaid thought , `
The word of my lord the king will set me at rest ';
for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil .
The LORD your God be with you !"
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Then the king answered the woman , "
Do not hide from me anything I ask you ."
And the woman said , "
Let my lord the king speak ."
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The king said , "
Is the hand of Jo '
ab with you in all this ?"
The woman answered and said , "
As surely as you live ,
my lord the king ,
one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said .
It was your servant Jo '
ab who bade me ;
it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid .
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In order to change the course of affairs your servant Jo '
ab did this .
But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth ."