¹ Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king`s heart longed for Absalom. <sup>2</sup> So 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. ³ Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth. ⁴ When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!” ⁵ The king asked her, “What is troubling you?” She said, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. ⁶ I 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. ⁷ Now 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.” ⁸ The king said to the woman, “Go home, and I will issue an order in your behalf.”