¹Joab pa, sin Zervijin, je zaznal, da se je srce kraljevo nagnilo k Absalomu.

¹And Joab son of Zeruial knoweth that the heart of the king [is] on Absalom,

²In pošlje Joab v Tekoo ter da pripeljati odondod modro ženo in ji veli: Delaj se, prosim, žalujočo in obleci žalno obleko in ne pomaži se z oljem, temuč bodi kakor žena, ki je že dolgo časa žalovala po mrtvem.

²and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, `Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead,

³Potem pojdi h kralju ter govóri na ta način ž njim! In Joab jo je poučil, kaj naj govori.

³and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;` and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.

⁴In ko žena iz Tekoe ogovori kralja, pade z obrazom na tla ter stori poklon in reče: Pomagaj mi, o kralj!

⁴And the woman of Tekoah speaketh unto the king, and falleth on her face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and saith, `Save, O king.`

⁵In kralj jo vpraša: Kaj ti je? In odgovori: Resnično, vdova sem, ker moj mož je mrtev.

⁵And the king saith to her, `What — to thee?` and she saith, `Truly a widow woman [am] I, and my husband dieth,

⁶In dekla tvoja je imela dva sinova, in ta sta se med sabo sprla na polju, in ker ga ni bilo, ki bi bil branil, je udaril brat brata in ga ubil.

⁶and thy maid-servant hath two sons; and they strive both of them in a field, and there is no deliverer between them, and the one smiteth the other, and putteth him to death;

⁷In glej, vsa rodovina je vstala zoper deklo tvojo in pravijo: Daj sem tistega, ki je ubil brata svojega, da ga usmrtimo za dušo brata, ki ga je umoril, in uničimo tudi dediča! Tako hočejo ugasiti mojo iskro, ki je preostala, da ne ostane možu mojemu ne imena, ne potomca na zemlji.

⁷and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left — so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.`

⁸Kralj pa veli ženi: Pojdi domov, in zapovem zate!

⁸And the king saith unto the woman, `Go to thine house, and I give charge concerning thee.`

⁹A žena iz Tekoe reče kralju: Gospod moj, kralj, na meni bodi ta pregreha in na mojega očeta hiši, kralj pa in prestol njegov bodi nedolžen!

⁹And the woman of Tekoah saith unto the king, `On me, my lord, O king, [is] the iniquity, and on the house of my father; and the king and his throne [are] innocent.`

¹⁰In kralj reče: Kdorkoli govori kaj zoper tebe, tega pripelji k meni, in ne sme se te več dotekniti.

¹⁰And the king saith, `He who speaketh [aught] unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.`

¹¹Ona reče: Naj se kralj spomni, prosim, GOSPODA, Boga svojega, da ne napravi krvni maščevalec še več pogube in ne iztrebijo sina mojega. On veli: Kakor res GOSPOD živi, še las ne pade sinu tvojemu na zemljo!

¹¹And she saith, `Let, I pray thee, the king remember by Jehovah thy God, that the redeemer of blood add not to destroy, and they destroy not my son;` and he saith, `Jehovah liveth; if there doth fall of the hair of thy son to the earth.`

¹²Nato reče žena: Pove naj, prosim, dekla tvoja besedo gospodu svojemu, kralju. On veli: Govóri!

¹²And the woman saith, `Let, I pray thee, thy maid-servant speak unto my lord the king a word;` and he saith, `Speak.`

¹³In žena reče: Zakaj si kaj takega mislil zoper ljudstvo Božje? Kajti s tem, kar je kralj rekel, se je sam obdolžil, ker noče kralj pripeljati domov izgnanca svojega.

¹³And the woman saith, `And why hast thou thought thus concerning the people of God? yea, the king is speaking this thing as a guilty one, in that the king hath not brought back his outcast;

¹⁴Zakaj gotovo umremo vsi in smo kakor voda, razlita po zemlji, ki se ne more več zbrati; tudi Bog ne jemlje življenja, ampak snuje načrte, da ne ostane tisti, ki je izgnan, izgnan od njega.

¹⁴for we do surely die, and [are] as water which is running down to the earth, which is not gathered, and God doth not accept a person, and hath devised devices in that the outcast is not outcast by Him.

¹⁵Da sem pa prišla govorit to gospodu svojemu, kralju, zgodilo se je, ker me je ljudstvo strašilo; in dekla tvoja je mislila: Govorila bom vsaj s kraljem, morebiti izpolni kralj prošnjo svoje dekle.

¹⁵`And now that I have come to speak unto the king my lord this word, [it is] because the people made me afraid, and thy maid-servant saith, Let me speak, I pray thee, unto the king; it may be the king doth do the word of his handmaid,

¹⁶Kajti kralj usliši deklo svojo, da me otme iz roke moža, ki hoče zatreti mene in sina mojega z menoj iz dediščine Božje.

¹⁶for the king doth hearken to deliver his handmaid out of the paw of the man [seeking] to destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God,

¹⁷Zato si je rekla dekla tvoja: Beseda gospoda mojega, kralja, mi bodi v pomirjenje; zakaj kakor angel Božji je gospod moj, kralj, da razpozna dobro in hudo. In GOSPOD Bog tvoj bodi s teboj.

¹⁷and thy maid-servant saith, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be for ease; for as a messenger of God so [is] my lord the king, to understand the good and the evil; and Jehovah thy God is with thee.`

¹⁸Tedaj odgovori kralj in reče ženi: Ne taji mi, prosim, kar te bom vprašal. In žena reče: Govori naj, prosim, gospod moj, kralj.

¹⁸And the king answereth and saith unto the woman, `Do not, I pray thee, hide from me the thing that I am asking thee;` and the woman saith, `Let, I pray thee, my lord the king speak.`

¹⁹Kralj pa vpraša: Ni li roka Joabova s teboj v vsem tem? In žena odgovori ter reče: Kakor res živi duša tvoja, gospod moj, kralj, ni ga človeka ne na desnici, ne na levici razen onega, ki ga je imenoval gospod moj, kralj: zakaj hlapec tvoj Joab mi je zapovedal in je položil vse te besede v usta dekle tvoje.

¹⁹And the king saith, `Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this?` And the woman answereth and saith, `Thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, none [doth turn] to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servant Joab he commanded me, and he put in the mouth of thy maid-servant all these words;

²⁰Da se obrne lice te stvari, je hlapec tvoj Joab storil to; a gospod moj je moder, kakor je modrost angela Božjega, da zna za vse, kar se godi na zemlji.

²⁰in order to bring round the appearance of the thing hath thy servant Joab done this thing, and my lord [is] wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of God, to know all that [is] in the land.`

²¹In kralj veli Joabu: Glej torej, storil sem to reč; zato pojdi in pripelji mladeniča Absaloma nazaj!

²¹And the king saith unto Joab, `Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.`

²²In Joab pade z obrazom na tla in stori poklon in blagoslovi kralja in reče: Danes je spoznal hlapec tvoj, da sem našel milost v tvojih očeh, gospod moj, kralj, v tem, da je kralj izpolnil prošnjo hlapca svojega.

²²And Joab falleth on his face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and blesseth the king, and Joab saith, `To-day hath thy servant known that I have found grace in thine eyes, my lord, O king, in that the king hath done the word of his servant.`

²³In vstane Joab in odide v Gesur in pripelje Absaloma v Jeruzalem.

²³And Joab riseth and goeth to Geshur, and bringeth in Absalom to Jerusalem,

²⁴Kralj pa veli: Naj krene v hišo svojo, a mojega obličja naj ne vidi! In Absalom je krenil v hišo svojo, a kraljevega obličja ni videl.

²⁴and the king saith, `Let him turn round unto his house, and my face he doth not see.` And Absalom turneth round unto his house, and the face of the king he hath not seen.

²⁵V vsem Izraelu pa ga ni bilo moža, ki bi se smel hvaliti zaradi lepote kakor Absalom: od stopala do temena ni bilo hibe na njem.

²⁵And like Absalom there was no man [so] fair in all Israel, to praise greatly; from the sole of his foot even unto his crown there was no blemish in him;

²⁶In kadar si je dal striči glavo (to se je zgodilo vsako leto; ker so mu bili lasje pretežki, so jo morali striči), so tehtali lasje njegove glave dvesto seklov, po kraljevi tehtnici.

²⁶and in his polling his head — and it hath been at the end of year by year that he polleth [it], for it [is] heavy on him, and he hath polled it — he hath even weighed out the hair of his head — two hundred shekels by the king`s weight.

²⁷In Absalomu so se rodili trije sinovi in ena hči, po imenu Tamara: ta je bila žena lepe postave.

²⁷And there are born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter, and her name [is] Tamar; she was a woman of a fair appearance.

²⁸In Absalom je prebival v Jeruzalemu dve celi leti in ni videl kraljevega obličja.

²⁸And Absalom dwelleth in Jerusalem two years of days, and the face of the king he hath not seen;

²⁹Tedaj pošlje Absalom po Joaba, da bi ga poslal h kralju, a ni hotel priti k njemu; in pošlje še enkrat, a ni hotel priti.

²⁹and Absalom sendeth unto Joab, to send him unto the king, and he hath not been willing to come unto him; and he sendeth again a second time, and he hath not been willing to come.

³⁰Zatorej reče hlapcem svojim: Glejte, Joabova njiva je poleg moje in raste ječmen na njej: pojdite in jo zažgite. In Absalomovi hlapci so požgali njivo.

³⁰And he saith unto his servants, `See, the portion of Joab [is] by the side of mine, and he hath barley there; go, and burn it with fire;` and the servants of Absalom burn the portion with fire.

³¹Nato vstane Joab in pride na dom k Absalomu ter mu reče: Zakaj so požgali hlapci tvoji mojo njivo?

³¹And Joab riseth and cometh unto Absalom in the house, and saith unto him, `Why have thy servants burned the portion that I have with fire?`

³²In Absalom odgovori Joabu: Glej, poslal sem k tebi, veleč: Pridi sem, da te pošljem h kralju sporočit: Čemu sem prišel iz Gesurja? Bolje bi mi bilo, da bi bil še tam. Zdaj torej poskrbi, da vidim obličje kraljevo; ako je pa krivica na meni, naj me umori!Joab torej stopi h kralju in mu to pove. In ko ga pokliče, pride Absalom h kralju in se mu pokloni z obrazom do tal, in kralj poljubi Absaloma.

³²And Absalom saith unto Joab, `Lo, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, and I send thee unto the king to say, Why have I come in from Geshur? — good for me while I [am] there — and now, let me see the king`s face, and if there is in me iniquity then thou hast put me to death.`

³³Joab torej stopi h kralju in mu to pove. In ko ga pokliče, pride Absalom h kralju in se mu pokloni z obrazom do tal, in kralj poljubi Absaloma.

³³And Joab cometh unto the king, and declareth [it] to him, and he calleth unto Absalom, and he cometh unto the king, and boweth himself to him, on his face, to the earth, before the king, and the king giveth a kiss to Absalom.