The Daily Audio Bible

The Woman of Tekoa

14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. ² So Joab sent word to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there and told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has for many days been in mourning for the dead. ³ Then go to the king and speak to him in this way.” So Joab ^[a]told her what to say.

⁴ When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she bowed with her face to the ground and lay herself down, and said, “Help, O king.” ⁵ The king asked her, “^[b]What is the matter?” She said, “Truly I am a widow; my husband is dead. ⁶ Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled and fought in the field. There was no one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ Now behold, the entire family has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother, so that we may ^[c]put him to death [to pay] for the life of his brother whom he killed and destroy the heir also.’ By doing this they will extinguish my coal that is left, leaving my husband without a name or a remnant (heir) on the face of the earth.”

⁸ Then David said to the woman, “Go to your home, and I will give orders concerning you.” ⁹ The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, the guilt is on me and on my father’s house, but the king and his throne are guiltless.” ¹⁰ The king said, “If anyone speaks to you [about this matter], bring him to me [for judgment], and he will not touch you again.” ¹¹ Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And David said, “As the Lord lives, not a single hair [from the head] of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹² Then the woman said, “Please let your maidservant speak one more word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.” ¹³ The woman said, “Now why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? For in speaking this word the king is like a guilty man, in that the king does not bring back his banished one. ¹⁴ For we will certainly die and are like water that is spilled on the ground and cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not [simply] take away life, but devises plans so that the one who is banished is not driven away from Him. ¹⁵ Now I came to speak of this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. So your maidservant thought, ‘I will just speak to the king; perhaps the king will do what his maidservant requests. ¹⁶ For the king will hear and save his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.’ ¹⁷ Then your maidservant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king be comforting, for my lord the king is as the angel of God to discern good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”

¹⁸ Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Do not hide from me anything that I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king please speak.” ¹⁹ The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all of this?” And the woman answered, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. Indeed, it was your servant Joab who commanded me; he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant. ²⁰ In order to change the appearance of things [between Absalom and you, his father] your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is in the earth.”

Absalom Is Recalled

²¹ Then the king said to Joab, “Listen, I will most certainly do this thing; now go, bring back the young man Absalom.” ²² Joab bowed his face toward the ground and lay himself down and blessed the king. Then Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has done the request of his servant.” ²³ So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴ However, the king said, “Let him go to his own house, and do not let him see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the king’s face.

²⁵ Now in all Israel there was no man as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised [for that]; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. ²⁶ When he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of each year he cut it, because its weight was heavy on him) he weighed the hair of his head at ^[d]200 shekels by the king’s weight. ²⁷ To Absalom were born three sons and one daughter whose name was ^[e]Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.

²⁸ Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without seeing the king’s face. ²⁹ So Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him; even when he sent again a second time, he [still] would not come. ³⁰ Therefore Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab’s property is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. ³¹ Then Joab ^[f]took action and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?” ³² Absalom answered Joab, “I sent for you, saying, ‘Come here, so that I may send you to the king to ask, “Why have I come [back] from Geshur? It would be better for me to still be there.”’ Now then, let me see the king’s face, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.” ³³ So Joab came to the king and told him. Then David called for Absalom, and he came to the king and bowed his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.

Absalom’s Conspiracy

15 After this, Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men as runners before him. ² He would get up early and stand beside the road to the gate [of the city, where court was held]; and when any man who had a dispute came to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” ³ Then Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king’s agent to listen to you.” ⁴ Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were appointed judge in the land! Then every man who had a dispute could come to me and I would get justice for him.” ⁵ And whenever a man approached to bow down before him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. ⁶ This is how Absalom dealt with everyone in Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ And after ^[g]four years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to the Lord at ^[h]Hebron [my birthplace]. ⁸ For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram (Syria), ‘If the Lord will in fact bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord [by offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving].’” ⁹ And [David] the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” ¹¹ Then two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited [as guests to his sacrificial feast] went with Absalom. They went innocently and knew nothing [about his plan against David]. ¹² And Absalom sent for ^[i]Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh, while he was offering sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom increased continually.

David Flees Jerusalem

¹³ Then a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” ¹⁴ David said to all his ^[j]servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, let us flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom! Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring disaster on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵ The king’s servants said to him, “Listen, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” ¹⁶ So the king left, and all his household ^[k]with him. But the king left behind ten women who were ^[l]concubines to take care of the house (palace).^{(A) 17} The king left, and all the people with him, and they stopped at the last house. ¹⁸ All of David’s ^[m]servants passed on beside him, and all the Cherethites, Pelethites and the Gittites, six hundred men who had come with him from Gath, passed on before the king.

¹⁹ Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you go with us, too? Go back and stay with the king [of your own country], for you are a foreigner and an exile as well; return to your own place. ²⁰ You came only yesterday, so should I make you wander with us today while I go where I will? Return and take your brothers back with you also. May lovingkindness and faithfulness be with you.” ²¹ But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, most certainly wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or life, there will your servant be also.” ²² So David said to Ittai, “Go on and cross over [the Brook Kidron].” So Ittai the Gittite crossed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

Judas Betrays Jesus

18 Having said these things, Jesus left with His disciples and went across the ^[a]ravine of the Kidron. There was a garden there, which He and His disciples entered. ² Now Judas, who was betraying Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples. ³ So Judas, having obtained the Roman ^[b]cohort and some officers from the high priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.^{(A) 4} Then Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen to Him, went to them and asked, “Whom do you want?” ⁵ They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus said, “I am He.” And Judas, who was betraying Him, was also standing with them. ⁶ When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ Again He asked them, “Whom do you want?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you want Me, let these men go on their way.” ⁹ This was to fulfill and verify the words He had spoken, “Of those whom You have given Me, I have not lost even one.”^{(B) 10} Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword [back] in its sheath! Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”

Jesus before Annas and Caiaphas

¹² So the cohort and their commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him, ¹³ and led Him to ^[c]Annas first; for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.^(C)

¹⁵ Simon Peter and ^[d]another disciple were following Jesus. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, so he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the [residence of the] high priest; ¹⁶ but Peter was standing outside at the door. So the other disciple (John), who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter inside.^{(D) 17} Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the servants and the officers had made a fire of coals, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. And Peter was with them, standing and warming himself.

¹⁹ Then the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and about His teaching.^{(E) 20} Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in a synagogue and in the temple [area], where all the Jews habitually congregate; and I said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why question Me? Question those who have heard what I said to them. They know what I said.” ²² But when He said this, one of the officers who was standing nearby ^[e]struck Jesus [in the face], saying, “Is that how You answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus replied, “If I have said anything wrong, make a formal statement about the wrong; but if [I spoke] properly, why did you strike Me?” ²⁴ So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Mem.

Nun.